Huawei confirms it has built its own operating system just in case US tensions disrupt use of Google’s Android

  • A previous US ban on Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE from using American products and services served as a reality check for China’s technology ambitions
  • Huawei says it would only use its own OS in “extenuating circumstances”

Li Taoin Shenzhen
Visitors walk next to a Huawei booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2019. Photo: Reuters

Huawei Technologies, the largest smartphone vendor in China, said it has developed its own operating systems (OS) for both smartphones and computers, which can be used on its devices in the event that current systems provided by US technology giants are no longer available.

The Chinese company has developed a proprietary OS as tensions between the company and the US government could impact the availability of US-made operating systems used on Huawei devices, Huawei’s mobile chief Richard Yu Chengdong, said in an interview with German publication Die Welt.

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