Huawei reportedly declined the chance to manufacture Google’s latest Pixel devices, with the growing smartphone vendor refusing to produce phones that did not promote its brand.

According to various reports, citing Colin Giles, the company’s VP of consumer business group, Google was keen to extend its partnership with Huawei, after it designed and manufactured the Nexus 6P, and wanted to do the same with the Pixel phones, before it was knocked back.

Google decided to drop the Nexus brand earlier this year, and came to market with Pixel, along with a strong marketing campaign proclaiming the line as the first ever Google phone.

Its relationship with the manufacturer partner, which ended up being HTC, also differs from the Nexus, in the fact that it does not feature the maker’s branding on the phone, something that Huawei took issue with, according to Giles.

Google is also handling all sales of the devices, unlike the Nexus, which was also sold via external channels.

Notably, Huawei used to make a lot of deals which saw it operate as just the phone manufacturer, but has now established itself as one of the world’s biggest smartphone brands.

The reports suggest that once Huawei knocked back Google’s advances, it went to HTC.

The HTC branding does not feature anywhere on the Pixel, apart from the battery.