OMG! Huawei phone listings on Carousell have increased by almost 150%!!!

This past week both Google and Huawei have been in the news for unfortunate reasons. It’s also an unfortunate time to be a Huawei owner.

In a nutshell

• Huawei and its future phones will lose access to all Google Apps and services and updates to the latest Android OS.
• Since the US government’s crackdown on Huawei, Google and other US chipmakers have followed suit and cut off its service to Huawei. Other companies like Qualcomm Inc and Intel Corp make up for half of Huawei’s mobile parts and not being able to purchase these components could have a significant impact on the Chinese phone maker.
• With all that’s happened, it has caused a large wave of panic to spread amongst Huawei owners.
• After the initial announcement, the US Commerce Department decided to give Huawei a 90-day reprieve so that existing partnerships between Huawei and other companies have time to make other arrangements.
• Meanwhile, in preparation for this eventuality, Huawei is looking to replace Android with their own OS dubbed the “HongMeng OS,” which has reportedly been in development since last year.

Huawei's own-developed smart phone Operating System, reportedly named "HongMeng OS", is being trialled out and will gradually replace the Android system, according to three Chinese media reports. pic.twitter.com/GacM5xQMYJ

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 20, 2019

But still, this doesn’t change the fact that consumers’ confidence has been shaken and some people are looking to get rid of their phones.

Carousell gets populated with Huawei phone listings

While all that’s happening, we’ve found out Huawei users are trying to sell off their devices, even with Google’s reassurances that existing Huawei phones will continue to have Google support. Still, people are flocking to Carousell and elsewhere to get back whatever money value they can with their Huawei phones.

• According to Carousell, on the day (20 May) Huawei was barred from Google services, the sale of Huawei phones accounted for 66.67% of their new user sign-ups.
• On the same day, Huawei related listings increased by a whopping 123.86%!
• The number of users on the platform selling Huawei related items saw an increase of 148.70%.

2nd-hand shops no longer willing to take in Huawei phones

It’s not just on Carousell, people are trading in and offloading their phones on 2nd-hand mobile shops and at official telcos as well. Check out the table below:

Surprisingly, the trade-in values of Huawei phones from our 3 telcos have not changed even after the announcement. However 2nd-hand mobile shops don’t appear to be taking in used Huawei phones.

Here’s my correspondence from a staff from Mister Mobile.

The Oct 2018 figures are taken from an archived web page. (Click to enlarge).

The Oct 2018 figures are taken from an archived web page. (Click to enlarge).

So, should you still sell your Huawei Phone?

If you’re really that worried, even with Google’s and Huawei’s assurances that service will still continue for existing phones, then yes, go ahead and sell it while you can.

But just a heads up. There are people already taking advantage of the confusion and offering to buy your Huawei phones – all at very, very low prices. It’s obvious they’re lowballing.

If not, why not roll with it? After all Honor (a sub-brand under Huawei) is still rolling out its Honor 20 series as scheduled even with all the commotion going on. It’s as if nothing has happened.