Huawei to start selling its 5.9-inch Mate 9 in the US on January 6 for $600 unlocked
Following Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 debacle, Huawei looks to please “phablet” smartphone fans with the Mate 9 in the US. — Huawei will launch its monstrous, 5.9-inch Huawei Mate 9 in the US starting January 6 …
Context & Ripple Effects
Huawei has kept its big-screen Mate line out of American hands until now: the 5.5-inch Mate S shipped in 30 countries but not the US, and the 6-inch Mate 8 went to China first. The Mate 9's November unveiling set a $776 global price; the US version lands at $600 unlocked, a meaningful discount and Huawei's clearest push into the American market to date.
The timing is deliberate. Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was pulled from the market, leaving large-screen phone buyers without their default option, and Huawei is positioning the 5.9-inch Mate 9 directly at that gap.
First-order effects
- US buyers can now buy a current-generation Huawei flagship outright for $600 without a carrier contract, undercutting the $776 international price of the same device.
- Samsung faces competition for displaced Note 7 customers precisely while its phablet line is absent from shelves.
Second-order effects
- Selling unlocked rather than through carriers forces Huawei to build brand awareness and retail distribution on its own dime, a bet that US consumers will buy premium Android hardware off-contract.
- A successful unlocked entry gives Huawei a foothold to iterate on: the Mate 10 Pro followed the same playbook a year later at $799 unlocked with a two-year security-update commitment.
Third-order effects
- If the unlocked-first route works where carrier deals were never attempted, Chinese handset makers gain a template for entering the US market that sidesteps carrier gatekeeping entirely — though whether US buyers accept the brand at full price remains the open question the Mate 10 Pro launch would test.
The trend: Chinese smartphone makers are entering the US premium market through unlocked direct sales rather than carrier partnerships, using big-screen flagships priced below rivals as the wedge.