Last 2018 was the best year for the Asian company Huawei in the world, putting more than 200 million smartphones on the market. At least it was in the sales section, since in the commercial met with the first refusal by a government, prohibiting its operators from selling their smartphones.
The reason for alleging this decision is that Huawei is accused of being another arm of the Chinese government. The next step has been to include it on the blacklist, in this way, no American company can do business with it. The most important consequence is that you run out of Android. If you have any doubts about what this prohibition means, read on to clarify your doubts.
In recent months, a trade war has been unleashed between the United States and China, a war that will ultimately affect end users, who are the ones who are not to blame for anything. It does not matter if we live in Europe or Latin America, in the end we are all those who will have to pay when renewing our terminals.
The terminals managed by Android in their official version, previously are certified by the company, in order to offer access to Google services such as the application store, Gmail, YouTube, Google Photos, Google Maps ... without the corresponding certification it is not possible to install the applications and use them in a terminal managed by Android, even if it is a fork, as we can find in the Amazon Fire tablets.
Will my Huawei stop working completely? Do not.
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
A few hours ago, the official Android account published a tweet in which it clarifies that services such as Google Play and security updates will continue to work in the terminals that Huawei currently has on the market. This means that if you have a Huawei smartphone you will be able to continue using it without any problem, at least for now.
Will I be able to continue using WhatsApp, Facebook and other applications? Yes and no.
It all depends. We do not know to what extent, the American government wants to complicate things for Huawei, but he can do it and not much, very much. The most popular applications, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and others are from American companies, so it is unlikely that they will adapt them to work without problems in the version of Android that Huawei starts using.
However, the American government can complicate things for Huawei a lot, since it could force these companies to block their applications so that they cannot be used in terminals manufactured by Huawei. VLC already did it last year, precisely with these terminals, due to the malfunction of its application with this manufacturer's energy manager.
If so, users They will not be able to use WhatsApp, Facebook and others in the terminals that are in the market, much less in the next terminals that the Asian manufacturer launches on the market, if it continues to launch, because the attractiveness of selling a 1.000-euro terminal without access to Google services is a titanic task.
What will happen to the new Huawei terminals? Nothing good.
The next terminals that the Asian company launches to the market may not at any time be managed by an official version of Android, either Android Pie or Android Q, the next version of Android that will hit the market in the third quarter of the year. But also, these terminals they will also not have access to Google applications, that is, the application store, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Maps, Google Drive ...
As they are not certified by Google itself, although we proceed to install these applications, by requiring Google Services, the applications will not work. Huawei has been working on an Android fork for a few years, a fork that would be the operating system of Huawei terminals and is based on Android, so all applications will be compatible, at least initially.
How does this prohibition affect my Huawei warranty? In nothing.
The warranty offered by the manufacturer will not be affected by this decision of the American government, so if you experience a problem with your terminal in the coming months, or during the time that this blockage lasts, you won't have any problem fixing it for free.
How long will the blockade last? Undefined.
The American government has always expressed the suspicion that Huawei spies for the Chinese government, not only through its terminals, but also through its communication networks, an accusation that the Asian manufacturer has always denied and that has never been proven by the government of Donald Trump.
In the case of ZTE, another Asian company that suffered a blockage of this type, this time for ignoring government restrictions on sell American technology in countries where American companies are prohibited from doing so. After paying a heavy fine and changing its entire leadership, the United States government lifted the veto. In the case of Huawei, it is different, since the sanction does not come for that reason, but for an alleged espionage that neither of them can prove reliably.
Consequences for Huawei
The first of all is that It will be very complicated in the future if the United States does not lift the veto and removes it from the black list. Offering terminals, whether they are 1.000 euros or 200 euros, without access to all Google services and without which most of us cannot live, is an impossible task.
As much as an alternative application store offers us, it is likely that the most used applications, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and others are not available. A terminal where we will be able to install WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or any other application that we use regularly it is absolutely useless. Well if to make calls, but for that there are also the featured phones.
But not only the sales of terminals will be affected, since the range of laptops that it offers us will also be affected. Intel, which has also confirmed that it will stop selling products to Huawei, is the supplier of the processors for the Asian manufacturer's laptops. Microsoft will not be able to distribute its operating system on these computers either. A laptop without Intel processors, or AMD (another American company) and without Windows, little or no future has the market.
Consequences for the United States
Most of the most popular applications on Android are from American companies and have been banned for several years in China, so the government cannot do anything to worsen the relationship with the country. If we leave the software aside, in terms of hardware, the most affected could be Qualcomm.
Many are Asian manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, Vibo, Oppo among others that trust Qualcomm as a supplier of the processors of their terminals. China could force these manufacturers to use either Huawei's Kirin processors or those of the manufacturer MediaTek. But these manufacturers could also see their sales hurt by being forced to use less powerful processors.
The Chinese government cannot, or should not, go to the American electronic device manufacturers, since most of them are assembled in China, since it would end up hurting the level of work of the factories causing a large number of layoffs.
Is it a good idea to buy a Huawei right now? Do not
If you plan to renew your terminal and a Huawei model was one of your priorities, it may be time to change your mind. Huawei terminals offer us a fairly good value for money, especially when the terminals have been on the market for a while, however, if we take into account all the considerations that I have exposed above, the idea of buying a Huawei does not seem the best right now.
