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Huawei could have its own operating system for smartphones and laptops ready for use in China as early as this autumn. This is what Chinese tech giant Head Consumer Market Richard Yu says versus CNBC. The Chinese tech giant was blacklisted by the US last week, after which Google withdrew the Android license.

As early as March, Huawei announced that it had been working on an operating system since 2012, which would be on standby if the US were to banish the export of American products. That is exactly what happened last week, when President Trump’s government banned Huawei from buying American-made products and services. Soon after, Google announced that it was withdrawing its Android license, which may prevent future Huawei smartphones from accessing popular apps such as YouTube and Gmail.

So now Yu argues that the company’s own operating system can quickly be ready for use in China, should the need arise. Yu emphasizes that the operating system will only be used when Huawei is no longer allowed to use the Google and Microsoft software at all.

This is not yet the case. In addition, the US has temporarily relaxed the trade sanctions imposed. As a result, the company is temporarily allowed to buy goods made in America. The U.S. government is trying to limit the disruptions for customers. However, the rules have only been relaxed until 19 August of this year.

2020

The operating system would be ready for China specifically in the fourth quarter of this year. A version for markets outside China should be completed in the first or second quarter of 2020. On the operating system is also the app store of Huawei itself, the App Gallery. The App Gallery is already on Huawei’s devices, but Google’s Play Store is often the standard app store for consumers.

However, for the operating system to succeed, there must be a user experience that can compete with that of Google, says Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research. There must also be a diverse collection of apps and they must be made safe.

Moreover, Huawei does not only have software problems. Chip manufacturers Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom would no longer supply the Chinese manufacturer. And chipset manufacturer ARM would also stop trading with Huawei, reports the BBC on the basis of internal documents that it has gotten its hands on. ARM makes the basis for Huawei’s own processors, which are located in the company’s smartphones.

This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.