Google leaves Huawei without support

Google has suspended Huawei’s access to updates to its Android operating system and chip manufacturers like Intel and Qualcomm have cut supplies to the Chinese telecommunications company, thus complying with the request of the United States Government after introducing Huawei to a commercial blacklist of companies that pose a 'threat to national security'.

Google has claimed to be complying with President Donald Trump’s executive order and was reviewing the "implications" of this decision. According to Google, Google Play and the security features of Google Play Protect will continue to work on existing Huawei devices, but the next version of your smartphones outside of China will lose access to the most popular apps and services, such as the Google Play store, Maps and Gmail email app.

Huawei will still have access to the version of the Android operating system available through the open source license which is free for anyone who wants to use it. But Google will no longer provide technical assistance and collaboration on Android and Google services.

Effects of Google’s decision

This decision is a major blow to the Chinese technology company, which has been the target of the US government for quite some time.

Huawei will immediately lose access to Android OS updates, and upcoming versions of its smartphones outside China will also lose access to popular apps, as we have seen.

What does Huawei say about it?

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing will "support Chinese companies in defending their legitimate rights through legal methods".

For its part, Huawei previously said it was developing its own spare operating system in case the company could not use the US software. It’s, apparently, his ace in the hole. Their plan B. They had foreseen it: "We were preparing for this," the company’s founder and president, Ren Zhengfei, admitted to a group of Japanese journalists after his first interview since Trump’s decision.

Huawei will reduce its dependence on American components, developing its own, which apparently will slow Huawei’s growth, "However, only slightly," Zhengfei said.

How does this affect users?

Google will stop commercial activities with Huawei involving the transfer of hardware, software and technical services that are not publicly available, which means Huawei will also be able to use the most limited open source version of Android. This means that existing Huawei phone customers will be able to update their Android apps and install new apps through Google’s Play Store, but they won’t be able to upgrade to a newer version of the Android operating system if one is available.

Future Huawei smartphones will not be able to include Google apps, including Youtube, Gmail and their Chrome web browser, as they are not included in the open source version of Android (Android Open Source Project -AOSP).

Google has claimed that its malware detection service Google Play Protect, which scans Android apps for any malicious software, will also continue to work on Huawei smartphones.

However, Huawei customers are unlikely to receive future Android updates, which often include important security enhancements. Instead, Huawei phones will depend on the security updates of the open source version of Android.

Google’s Android software is just one piece of U.S. technology. that Huawei uses, so the wider drop in prohibition can be devastating for the company and its users if other American firms follow Google’s example.

Chip manufacturers, including Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom, have already said they will not supply China’s electronics giant until further notice.

Analysts say Huawei has stored enough chips and other key components to keep its business running for at least three months.

At the moment, the company has not issued an official statement. We will update this article if a response is received.