Nokia's distribution and sales channels would be an attractive bargain for Huawei, yes, but also for the brand name, which I think could be considered very valuable. If you knew nothing at all about the product, Microsoft's history as we know it - anything at all, which cell phone would you be more likely to buy? One with some practically unknown Chinese name, or a brand name you have known and a least know has been trusted by people you know, if not you yourself, for many years?

Clearly the name Huawei is well known for cell phones by many people here on Groklaw, but I had no idea they were into cell phones until I read peoples comments here on Groklaw. Other than that, I only know their name from news articles about how their telephone equipment is not welcome in the USA. For me the name is damaged goods because of this, and other things I learned about that company since. For example, there was a lot of discussion about potential backdoors in their router/modems. Then I read a real hacker's story about how they hacked into one of Huawei's modems to see what they could find. Turned out, there was no need to concern ourselves about secret backdoors in their modems, because their routers was full of security holes big enough to drive a truck through. Anybody and their dog could have hacked into those modems - remotely.

On the other hand, I had a good impression of Nokia, until they got into bed with Microsoft that is. The first cell phone I ever owned was a Nokia. The case was magnesium I think, and it fit in the hand and you flip up the top. I loved that phone. I thought it was so cool. This was a long time ago.

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