Google’s Android is breaking up with Huawei. The US has blacklisted Huawei from dealing with US companies on national security grounds, which threatens the existence of apps like Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube or even the Google Play Store on Huawei devices.
We may find out how this will play out for Huawei smartphone buyers sooner than we think. The Chinese company is going ahead with plans to launch sub-brand Honor's 20 Series on Tuesday in London, according to the South China Morning Post.
If you own a Huawei, it should be able to work as usual. The smartphones use the open source Android operating system. However, the ban means future Huawei handsets won’t have access to Google Mobile Services, which includes Google’s most popular apps and APIs.
This is already normal in China, which Google left back in 2010 and where all the company’s services were blocked in 2014.
“As Google services are not available in China, the short-term impact is small for the Chinese market,” said Xi Wang, research manager at IDC China. “But for international users, apps like Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play Store, YouTube… will not be available, which is absolutely a huge impact for them.”
The Huawei P30 has been hailed for its great cameras, but that might not matter without all those Google apps installed. (Picture: Chris Chang/Abacus)
Half of Huawei's smartphone shipments last year went to users outside of China. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the company's smartphones now make up more than a fifth of the market, according to IDC data. It also makes up a quarter of the EMEA Android market, but losing access to Google services could be critical.
