In a recent post, I asked if Huawei is still relevant in the west considering that the US ban is still in effect but maybe the better question to ask would have been if Huawei would return to using Google's apps and services if or when the ban is lifted. According to Huawei's Product Manager for Austria, it would seem that the smartphone maker will refrain from including Google apps on its phones, and will instead continue to develop its own HMS and app store offerings.
Fred Wangfei, Huawei's Product Manager for Austria, reportedly said that the company isn't planning to return to using Google apps and services on its handsets even if the US trade ban is lifted. If the comment is accurate, it represents a huge shift in stance from Richard Yu's comments when the Mate 30 Pro was launched, whereby he stated that firmware builds that included Google apps and services could be rolled out overnight if and when the ban was to be lifted.
We know that Huawei is working on its HarmonyOS software to bring it up to speed for use on smartphones and that the company recently announced the launch of its own mobile services core called HMS that is designed to replace GMS (Google Mobile Services). Huawei is also spending significant amounts in developing its own app store called AppGallery which is improving all the time although there are a lot of gaps to be filled when compared to the Google Play Store. Having been in the middle of the trade war between the US and China, Huawei is persuing the seemingly impossible task of creating a third ecosystem in the mobile segment.
It should be noted that the report came via Austria's Product Manager, not one of Huawei's rotating CEOs, nor one of the company's usual PR channels. It could be accurate, it may be that Fred Wangfei spoke out of turn, or it might be that this was a calculated move, designed to pressure Google to increase its lobbying attempts to get the US government to relax or lift the ban.
In the meantime, we are now waiting for Huawei to make an official statement on the comments. It will be interesting to see if the statement is one of confirmation, denial, or perhaps indifference.
Source: DerStandard
Via: Roland Quandt (Twitter)
Emoji galore: 117 new Unicode Emoji 13.0 have been confirmed for phones in 2020
Google Play Store testing automatic installation of pre-registered apps
Google is testing a black AMOLED-friendly dark mode in the Google app
