Is Huawei making the next Nexus smartphone?

It’s safe to say Google’s next Nexus smartphone won’t launch until summer at the earliest (and more likely fall, if we go off of previous year’s releases), but the rumors are already starting to swirl. The latest says not only will Google release two new Nexus handsets this year, but one will be produced by a Chinese manufacturer.

Google’s plan seems to include updating both Nexus models currently available. It’s too early whether or not to say they will retain the 5-inch and 6-inch form factors, but at the very least we should get a premium model (these early rumors say it will be produced by LG) and a more affordable option. The latter would be the device produced by a Chinese OEM, and the thinking is that OEM will be Huawei.

While we can’t put too much stock in the rumors as they sit, they make at least some sense. China continues to grow as a market for Google and Android, and it would do Google well to show some love to one of the biggest manufacturer of mobile devices in that country (and the biggest overall manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world). As for hardware specs? We won’t take any guesses at what those will look like just yet.