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| Huawei users will start losing access to Google's proprietary services such as Gmail and Maps (AFP Photo/ALAIN JOCARD, CHRISTOF STACHE) |
Paris (AFP) - Hundreds of millions of smartphone users will be affected by Google's decision to sever its Android operating system ties with Chinese handset maker Huawei.
The
decision, in the midst of a US trade war with China, means that Huawei users
will start losing access to Google's proprietary services such as Gmail and
Maps, and be shut out of future upgrades to Android on their phones.
The move by
the California internet giant on the software front was compounded by news that
US chipmakers have stopped supplying Huawei, hitting the hardware of its
phones.
Many
customers affected
Huawei sold
nearly 203 million phones last year, up from 150 million in 2017, according to
data tracking firm Gartner, overtaking Apple to threaten Samsung atop the
global charts.
For the
first quarter of 2019, before its recent run-in with President Donald Trump's
administration, Huawei sold 59 million handhelds, IDC calculated.
Those users
risk losing access to important upgrades to Android released by Google in
future, although for now Huawei said it would continue to provide security
updates.
The Chinese
company will only be able to access software patches and distribute them from
Android's open source project, not proprietary information retained by Google,
meaning that apps on Huawei phones could become unusable.
 |
An ongoing
trade dispute is unlikely to be helped by a fresh US move
against Huawei (AFP
Photo/FRED DUFOUR)
|
No easy
fix for Huawei
To get
around the Google ban, Huawei would ultimately have to build its own operating
system, as Apple has for its iPhones. That cannot be done in a hurry.
Microsoft
offers a salutary example. Between 2010 and 2017, the US company tried to
entice users to buy phones built on its own Windows mobile operating system.
But the phones never took off and the company pulled the plug on the OS.
Huawei does
have a big advantage over Microsoft, given the bigger scale of its mobile
market penetration.
Software
developers might feel compelled to offer a Huawei-specific version of their
apps. Or the Chinese manufacturer could start a new branch of the Android
family based on the open source version available now.
But that
will all take time.
Risks for
Google too
The
widespread mobile usage of Maps, Gmail and Google's other services has helped
the US company build a market-leading position with Android alongside its
crushing dominance in desktop browsing.
But in
cutting off Huawei, Google risks being deprived of the revenue-generating data
of all those phone owners around the world.
And other
Chinese smartphone makers, such as Xiaomi, Oppo and OnePlus, will be watching
closely.
Should
Huawei build its own system, it's conceivable that those companies might join
it, in a bid to end their own vulnerability to future actions by the US
government or companies.
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