Scores of Hong Kongers Report that Their Huawei Smartphones Have Abruptly Died

Visitors try out the Huawei Mate S smartphone at the Huawei stand at the 2015 IFA consumer electronics and appliances trade fair on September 4, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Locals in Hong Kong say their Huawei Mate 9, Mate 10, and other models of the Chinese tech giant’s smartphones have recently malfunctioned, suddenly shutting off and becoming unusable. The company said it did not have an immediate solution; customers could reinstall the phones’ system—but that would delete all the phone’s data.

Hundreds of Huawei smartphone owners expressed that they were dismayed at having to give up photos and videos that they took. Some of them said: “I won’t use Huawei anymore.”

Crowded Huawei Service Center

On the early morning of May 29, the Huawei service center in the Mong Kok neighborhood of Hong Kong had about 30 customers waiting in line, seeking to repair their dead smartphones, according to a report by local newspaper Apple Daily.