HUAWEI phones will no longer have access to Google Play Store and other Google services
Google has apparently been forced to stop all business dealings with HUAWEI, as part of the US trade war with China. It will affect all upcoming HUAWEI smartphones as HUAWEI will no longer be able to make use of Android and Google’s services. Current HUAWEI devices like the HUAWEI P30 and P30 Pro, Mate 20 series still maintain their access to the Play Store, but will no longer receive any updates from Google, including the monthly security patches that Google releases.
HUAWEI can make use of the AOSP project if they still want to continue releasing Android phones, but they won’t come with the Google Play Store or any of Google’s additional services like Gmail and what not. HUAWEI has been aggressively expanding their own AppGallery recently, probably in preparation for this move. HUAWEI has also reportedly been working on their own OS, which has yet to make an appearance in any of their devices. Hopefully, it won’t be nearly as bad as Samsung’s Bada, which had no traction at all.
The Chinese smartphone brand has enjoyed a meteoric growth in recent times, with it being the second most popular brand worldwide, so hopefully their transition to their own OS will be smoother than the Korean’s. However given the loss of Android’s extensive features, it might be quite hard to convince users to shift over to an entirely new OS platform.
HUAWEI announced the devices which will be receiving the Android Q update last week, which is probably moot by now. I wonder how HUAWEI, and China, by extension, will fight this.
Pokdepinion: I wonder if China will just cut their trade ties with US. What will happen then?
[UPDATE]: HUAWEI will still continue supporting all existing HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones!