Last week, the government of the president of the United States, Donald Trump included Huawei in the blacklist with which companies in the country cannot do business, without receiving a significant financial penalty. As expected, the first to jump on the bandwagon has been Google, but not the only one.
As stated by Reuters a few hours ago, later confirmed by The Verge, who had had access to that news, the search giant has suspended all its business with Huawei that require the transfers of hardware, software and services. However it seems that if you will have access to the Google application store.
For Huawei users' questions regarding our steps to comply w / the recent US government actions: We assure you while we are complying with all US gov't requirements, services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device.
- Android (@Android) May 20, 2019
Hours after this announcement occurred, the official Android account has stated that Huawei devices will have access to the Play Store, without which Huawei's terminals could do little or nothing in the market, since for 70% of the more than 2.000 million Android users it is the main source for installing applications.
What the Asian giant will not have access to the next version of Android Q, a version that will hit the market in the last quarter of 2019. The guys at Huawei will be forced to trust the Android fork in which according to various information they have been working since 2012, fork of which they resumed development last year due to the possibility that this moment would come.
Although it is true that the main attraction of Android is the application store, without which we cannot install any application such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram ... it seems that if you will have access, however, the problem is that these companies can block your applications so that they do not work on Huawei terminals, something that VLC already did last year with these terminals precisely, because the performance was not expected.
In addition, Nor would they include Gmail, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Drive.... applications that we do not know if they will be forced to block their installation on Huawei terminals, although it is most likely. If so, Huawei has a black future ahead of him, not in the United States, where it has been banned from entering through operators for a few months, but in the whole world except China, where it uses all Google services, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and others are prohibited.
The problems for Huawei started last year, when the government blocked the commercial agreement that the company had signed with the main operators in the United States, accusing it of being another arm of the Chinese government, accusations that the head of the company denied shortly after, as is logical, although it really was.
Google is not the only one to comply with the blockade
In addition to Google, both Intel and Qualcomm have also confirmed that they will stop collaborating with the Asian manufacturer. In the case of Intel, it assumes that the Huawei notebook range, which offers such good value for money, will no longer be able to be managed by Intel processors.
AMD, the other processor manufacturer, although more focused on desktop computers, will not be able to trade with Huawei either, so the only recourse left to the Asian company would be to launch its own processor, something highly unlikely, to which it would have to add an operating system, which it couldn't be Microsoft's Windows either.
The American manufacturer that could be most affected by this movement would be Qualcomm, not because of its dependence on Huawei, which is practically non-existent, since Huawei models are not managed by Qualcomm processors, but by the Kirin range of the Asian manufacturer itself, since the Chinese government could obligate Asian manufacturers (Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo ...) not to use the processors of this company to make use of the Kirin of Huawei or those of MediaTek.
What will happen to my Huawei?
Today It is difficult to know what will happen to your Huawei terminal, since no more details have been given in this regard, only that the next update of Android Q will not reach the manufacturer's terminals at any time, that is, that the brand new Huawei P30 in its different varieties will not be updated.
If you had the intention of renewing your device for one of the fantastic terminals that Huawei has launched in recent weeks, perhaps it would be time to wait to see how everything related to this blockage evolves. If you can't wait and want to get healthy, the best thing you can do is opt for any other manufacturer.
If American companies block the installation of their applications on Huawei terminals, this It will not only affect the next terminals, but it will also affect the terminals currently on the market, which will force users to use web versions, in the case of Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, but not with WhatsApp, who does require an application installed in order to use it.
What will China's response be?
As I have commented above, most of the services of American companies such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp ... and others are blocked in China, so the government of the country can do little more if it wants to respond to the movement of the American government. Further, China has the upper hand at all times.
If you make a move that could hurt handset sales in your country, the world's largest market after India, overall sales will suffer, which in turn it will affect the component and assembly factories located in the country, factories that would have to start cutting staff due to a drop in demand.
And in Europe?
Huawei is one of the manufacturers that has invested the most to develop 5G networks, networks that will soon be replacing 4G / LTE networks around the world. In Europe, most mobile networks are managed by antennas from this manufacturer as in the United States. If the European Union follows the same path as the United States, unlikely at least initially, could be the lid on the coffin for Huawei, as its two main markets would be limited outside the United States and Europe.
Goodbye to Huawei's aspirations
In 2018, Huawei became the manufacturer with the highest growth worldwide, despite not being present in the United States, with an increase in sales of 34,8%, selling more than 200 million terminals. Huawei's intention was in the first place to surpass the second position in Apple's ranking and later to go for the first, Samsung.
However Huawei's aspirations have suffered a severe setback, since now users will think very much if despite the quality offered by the manufacturer's terminals, it is a good option to get a terminal that will not be managed by an official Android version, but by a version designed by the manufacturer, version that will not include the news that Google adds each year, unless the manufacturer copies each and every one of them.