Johannesburg - Are you among the legions of people who are unable to pronounce Huawei, the name of the Chinese mobile phone company, then worry no more.
Good news is that Huawei, is changing its name to “WahWay”, which is much easier to pronounce, particularly in a multilingual country like South Africa, the company said.
Consumers around the world have given eyebrow-raising pronunciation variations of Huawei, from “Whowaway, Hueway to Hawuwey”.
"For quite some time now, Huawei has been aware of the fact that many people around the world struggle with the pronunciation of ‘Huawei’, which is a Chinese word,” said a WahWay spokesperson.
The name change came after a consumer study conducted over a six-month period and surveyed participants from 43 countries, including South Africa.
“The results of our research study showed that aligning the pronunciation of the Huawei name with the spelling of the Huawei name will accelerate this expansion and make us an even more recognisable brand,” the company said.
“We think that the change in the spelling of our name is particularly relevant in a multilingual country like South Africa. We want to make it as easy as possible for the people of the rainbow nation to pronounce our name, as they have been such loyal customers”.
More information on the name change would be communicated on the company’s social media accounts.
* This is an April Fool's story sent to us by Huawei.
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