Illustration by Alex Castro
Following the US crackdown on Chinese technology companies, Google has cut off Huawei’s Android license, dealing a huge blow to the besieged phonemaker. Reuters first reported the news, and The Verge subsequently confirmed Google’s suspension of business with Huawei with a source familiar with the matter.
Reached for comment, a Google spokesperson said only “We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications.” The order, in this case, appears to be the US Commerce Department’s recent decision to place Huawei on the “Entity List,” which as Reuters reports is a list of companies that are unable to buy technology from US companies without government approval.
Speaking to Reuters, a Google spokesperson confirmed that “Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.” So while existing Huawei phones around the world won’t be immediately impacted by the decision, the future of updates for those phones as well as any new phones Huawei would produce remains in question.
Huawei is now restricted to using the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), cutting the company off from critical Google apps and services that consumers outside of China expect on Android devices. That also means Huawei will only be able to push security updates for Android once they’re made available in AOSP, assuming the company uses its own update system. It’s not clear yet how this will affect the full range of Android integrations that Huawei depends on, but we will update this story when we receive additional clarification about the impacts of Google’s decision.
Huawei has been under increasing pressure from President Trump and the US government over fears that its equipment could be used by the Chinese government to spy on American networks. These fears have been under construction for a long time; In 2018, US intelligence agencies warned against using Huawei and ZTE devices, and US politicians have described Huawei as “effectively an arm of the Chinese government.”
Huawei maintains that it is not possible for the Chinese government to poison its equipment with backdoors, and it has remained optimistic about the future of its business. But this latest setback from Google poses a grave risk to the future of Huawei’s core mobile business. The company was already preparing its own operating systems in the event of being banned from using Android and Windows, but given US fears about foreign interference, a home-grown OS is likely to face even more scrutiny than Google’s software.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/19/18631558/google-huawei-android-suspension
Mobile phone shops stop buying Huawei phones from customers; anxiety sets in for existing users
SINGAPORE — Just a day after Google suspended its business with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei amid escalating United States-China trade tensions, mobile phone shops in Singapore have stopped buying used Huawei phones from customers.
The reason for this change? The shops are concerned that they would not make a profit as these used Huawei phones may no longer command high prices — and there may be no takers anyway, they said.
Due to the dip in demand, some retailers have even stopped stocking up new Huawei phones. They said that the sidelining of these products will continue until further notice, depending on how the situation plays out.
For customers, anxiety has set in. Worried that they might not be able to access Google applications such as YouTube, Maps and Gmail, some have tried to sell their Huawei phones to stores, only to be turned down, mobile phone shops told TODAY.
Turning to social media, some users have vented their anger, demanding a replacement phone or a refund from telecommunications companies.
In response to TODAY’s queries, telcos StarHub and Singtel acknowledged the frustrations, with Singtel saying that it is working with Huawei “to get more clarity”.
On Sunday, the US’ decision to place Huawei on its trade blacklist led Google to suspend business with Huawei, China’s largest tech firm, in matters relating to the transfer of hardware, software and technical services.
Google, however, had sought to allay concerns. It assured existing Huawei users not residing in China that they would still be able to access and update the apps on Google Play Store, such as YouTube, Maps and Gmail.
Still, Huawei users in Singapore who were interviewed by TODAY are thinking that there may be more restrictions on the use of Google’s proprietary apps and services, depending on how the US-China trade war plays out.
Mr Nicholas Tan, a 30-year-old music teacher, is worried that Google might “break relations” with Huawei, which would eventually mean restricting existing Huawei users from accessing Google’s apps.
Echoing a similar sentiment, 29-year-old photographer Matthew Lim said that not being able to access Google Maps, which he relies on frequently for navigation, would leave him handicapped in a way. “That would be a serious issue,” he added.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mobile-phone-shops-stop-buying-huawei-phones-customers-anxiety-sets-existing-users