Huawei certain Messi will lead global take-over

BARCELONA, Spain:

Having sold over 100 million smart phones last year, Chinese-based cell phone giants Huawei remains confident its partnership with Lionel Messi will now lead its organisation to the top of global phone sales soon. Messi is a five-time Ballon d'Or/FIFA World Player of the year winner and as the first player to achieve that historic feat, many consider him one of the all time football greats.

Messi, who represents Spanish club Barcelona was recently named global brand ambassador for Huawei during a press conference held in the city.

With Messi being born in Rosario Argentina in the same year as Huawei's inception in 1987, the organisation has labelled the partnership as a "perfect fit".

long-term partnership

"We are seeking a long term partnership. He is a win-win, look to see Huawei and Messi in the future," Kevin Ho, president, Handset Business, Huawei Consumer BG said.

The Messi and Huawei partnership is over a three year period, but no official figure was released on how much it will cost the Asian brand.

Huawei is also the official Smart phone partner of London-based English football club Arsenal. It is set to launch their new P9 smart phone in London on April 6.

Despite Huawei's global sales last year, it remains one of the three top smart phone vendors in the world, behind Apple and Samsung.

They, however, lead the Asian market by beating Xiaomi, Lenovo, Apple and Samsung to become the top smart phone vendor.

The company hopes Messi can help raise its brand awareness in markets it has been making inroads in like Latin America, Asia and Europe where football enjoys a cult-like following.

Meanwhile, according to Ho, five reasons which make Huawei devices stand out from others are, "design, craftsmanship, user experience, long battery life and excellent camera quality".

He stressed that Huawei is happy to be a sponsor of the Digicel Rising Star in Jamaica.