Huawei Under Investigation by S’pore Regulators For $54 Smartphone Promo


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I bet all my assets that when you read the headline, you’d go, “Wait, what? I thought it’s over since they’ve apologised and even promised to give $100 vouchers to 5,000 people?”

Apparently not.

In fact, the CASE President spoke about the incident, claiming that the advertisement was “a breach of the Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act (CPFTA)” and hope that the “Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore will issue a public reprimand of the company for breach of the CPFTA.”

Well, he got more than that, because not one, not two, but three organisations have stepped in to investigate the tech giant for the promotion that has caused a hoo-ha all over Singapore.

Challenger #1: Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore is an advisory under CASE, and they ensure that businesses in Singapore follow the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP), which is to “promote a high standard of ethics in advertising through industry self-regulation” and that “all advertisements should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.”.

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore is checking whether Huawei has complied with the SCAP guidelines on the availability of products and bait advertising, as they have received 10 complaints.

Challenger #2: Consumers Association of Singapore (Case)

No need for introduction for this organisation. Other than their president “ranting” on Facebook, they have also contacted the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) to discuss what actions could be taken against Huawei.

And of course, the third challenger that has fined Uber and Grab for $13 million…

Challenger #3: Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS)

The organisation is looking to see if Huawei had breached the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. Let’s just hope that the investigation wouldn’t be as long as the Uber-Grab merger investigation.

Huawei: We’ll Make Things Right

Huawei’s now working closely with the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore and the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) about this incident.

And, as mentioned, to make up for this, they’ve identified almost 5,000 registered customers who were interested in getting the $54 phones.

Now, these customers still can’t buy the Y6 at $54, so Huawei’s giving them the next best thing: a $100 voucher.

The voucher is applicable to the selected smartphone models:

  • Y6 Pro (eh, thought out of stock le?)
  • Nova 3i
  • P30 Pro
  • P30
  • Mate 20 X
  • P30 Lite
  • Mate 20 Pro
  • Mate 20

With the $100 voucher, a Y6 Pro which usually costs $148 (eh, thought is $198?), can be purchased for $48.

The contact details of those who were still keen on its devices from the three-day promo have been collected, and Huawei will be contacting these customers within two weeks from 2 Aug.


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This time, they’ll ensure that there’s “sufficient inventory”.

Oh wells, they’ll better do. Ah Gong’s watching.