Google stops Android support for Huawei, the world’s largest phone maker

Huawei, the world’s largest maker of smartphones will not run Android anymore and existing users will not receive anymore updates as Google has suspended business with the Chinese brand that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing.

The issue is a serious blow to the Chinese technology company that the US government has sought to blacklist around the world. The move could hobble Huawei’s smartphone business outside China as the tech giant will immediately lose access to updates to Google’s Android operating system.

The next version of its Android smartphones will also lose access to popular services including the Google Play Store and Gmail and YouTube apps. The news was first reported by Reuters. Quoting a source, the agency said, “Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google.”

The Trump administration on Thursday added Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the company to do business with U.S. counterparts. On Friday the US Commerce Department said it was considering scaling back restrictions on Huawei to ‘prevent the interruption of existing network operations and equipment.’Extent of ban
The extent to which Huawei will be hurt by the US government’s blacklist is not yet known as its global supply chain assesses the impact. Chip experts have questioned Huawei’s ability to continue to operate without US help.

Details of the specific services affected by the suspension were still being discussed internally at Google, according to the source. Huawei attorneys are also studying the impact of the blacklist, a Huawei spokesman said. Huawei was not immediately reachable for further comment.

India, China impact less
Globally of course it will have major impact since almost half of its business comes from outside China especially many markets in Europe. In India, however Huawei have never been able to scale up to be a major player.

Huawei+Honor has around 4.5 per cent market share in India. So, this will not have much impact as of now. But considering the growth potential in India, this puts a spanner in the Huawei’s possible aggressive plans for India as the next growth market in next 2 – 3 years, outside of China.

The impact is expected to be minimal in the Chinese market. Most Google mobile apps are banned in China, where alternatives are offered by domestic competitors such as Tencent and Baidu. Huawei’s European business, its second-biggest market, could be hit as Huawei licenses these services from Google in Europe.Contingency plan
Huawei has said it has spent the last few years preparing a contingency plan by developing its own technology in case it is blocked from using Android. Some of this technology is already being used in products sold in China, the company has said.

Huawei will continue to have access to the version of the Android operating system available through the open source license, known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP), that is available for free to anyone who wishes to use it. There are about 2.5 billion active Android devices worldwide, according to Google.

But Google will stop providing Huawei with access, technical support and collaboration involving its proprietary apps and services going forward, the source said.