News
Huawei smartphones currently use the Android operating system, but a US ban appears to have jeopardised that arrangement
Huawei is set to launch its own mobile operating system next month, as the Chinese tech giant looks to side steps its US ban.
Last month, President Trump imposed a ban on Chinese companies being involved in the US’ telecoms sector. The ban also prevents Chinese firms from doing business with US firms in certain key areas – as a result of which, Huawei was banned from doing business with Google, throwing doubt over its ability to continue using the Android operating system.
Huawei has long been developing its own operating system, and the US ban has expedited its route to market.
"Huawei knew this was coming and was preparing. The OS was ready in January 2018 and this was our ‘Plan B’," Alaa Elshimy, managing director and vice president of Huawei Enterprise Business Group Middle East, told journalists from Tech Radar.
"We did not want to bring the OS to the market as we had a strong relationship with Google and others and did not want to ruin the relationship. Now, we are rolling it out next month."
Reports in the press suggested that Huawei will name its new OS, Ark, following trademark submissions to the European Commission.
Huawei has been steadily weaning itself off of its dependency on external suppliers and now produces a whole range of components and chipsets to power its smartphone handsets.
Also in the news:
Trump grants Huawei 90 day reprieve from US ban
