Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has announced a partnership with Leica that will see both companies work together on reinventing the smartphone photography. Leica is a very popular camera brand from Germany that is known for its top-notch and expensive lenses and cameras.

The long-term partnership will see both companies research, develop, design, co-engineer and even do marketing and retail distribution together. Up until now, the only smartphone to have used lenses from Leica is the Panasonic CM1 — which was more of a camera with phone capabilities rather than the opposite.

The strategic alliance between Huawei and Leica Camera demonstrates the desire of two rapidly growing and globally active brands to continuously push the envelope of the technologically possible. In addition to innovative strength and premium standards, our two companies are united by the commitment to uncompromising quality. The technology partnership with Huawei offers Leica Camera an excellent opportunity to introduce its proven optical expertise into a new product segment and to unlock exciting business areas in the field of mobile devices. Smartphones make a very important contribution to the world of photography and open an important door for Leica to new target groups and fields of application.

The press release also promises that both companies will work on achieving the “best possible imaging results in the field of smartphone photography — and to take it to the next level of quality.”

The partnership will definitely benefit both parties here: having the Leica name and technology in its smartphone cameras will give Huawei’s smartphones an increased market value, while it will allow Leica to expand its business into new territories.