Before the iPhone 7 made dual lenses cool… no, scratch that, Huawei and Leica made it cool first (and plenty others made it dorky). The result of their collaboration, the P9, has sold well enough that the two companies are taking their relationship to the next level — moving in together. In a joint research facility in Germany, that is.
The Max Berek Innovation Lab will be established in Wetzlar, where the companies will conduct imaging research, but also work on VR and AR technology. Huawei has dipped its toes into the VR world with a simple headset announced in April, but Leica’s lens tech will surely be helpful in creating a more full-service offering.
You can surely expect more Leica-Huawei combos soon; whether they’ll stick with the color/monochrome system or move to a multiple focal-length one, or something completely different — well, presumably they’ll figure that out in the new lab.
Berek was one of Leica’s earliest engineers and the creator of the first Leica lenses, among other things; he died in 1949.