Google's Pixel smartphones would likely have been made by China's Huawei if not for a branding dispute. Huawei has confirmed that it wouldn't give in to Google's demand for the company's logo to be absent from the phone's advertising, hardware, and software. Because Huawei wanted its role to be more obvious, it didn't end up working with Google. HTC made the phones instead.

This information comes from Colin Giles, Huawei's VP of Consumer Business. His statement on the matter fits with how the Google Pixel and Pixel XL ended up being designed, as they lack HTC's branding.

Huawei also wasn't too excited to work with Google following last year's Nexus 6P, which was supposed to be the start of an ongoing partnership. The Chinese phone company believed the 6P would launch on major US carriers and that Google would operate a "massive, multi-hundred-million dollar" ad campaign. Google didn't follow through and that reduced Huawei's interest in expanding the partnership.