Huawei was still coping from the termination of providing services to American companies with the release of an executive order from the US government on May 16, 2019 until the offset expanded to United Kingdom. The ban from the UK government too was another shocker for the Chinese smartphone company Huawei that restricted the use of Huawei phones for government-based activities and 5G network kits for its deployment.
Disruption in global market due to Huawei ban
The main reason identified so far for US government terminating their agreement with the tech giant is that Huawei phones are alleged to have some sort of spyware installed that is capable of breaching confidential information and can be a potential threat to the government and its people. Following to the footsteps of US, UK came up with a decision to ward off Huawei and many more countries are now reluctant to do business with the company creating a huge disruption in the telecom supply chain as it holds 28% of telecom equipment market.
What is its impact – Future of Huawei phones?
Huawei phones have been restricted from access to Google apps and services. In that case, application of Android operating system to build Huawei phones will be critical. If the company still wants to develop mobile on Android OS, it must shift towards Android Open Source Platform (AOSP). This system is free and can be used by any brand as a base for its products as it is being used in Huawei Mate 30.
With no access to Google Play Store, Huawei needs to collaborate with developers directly to make their own ware versions for its phones. Amazon Fire is based on such a model AOSP in-built with an app store which controls all its Echo devices and Fire tablets via a single platform. However, all that glitters is not gold which seem to be true in case of Nokia and Microsoft that failed to create Windows Phones a suitable option to iOS and Android based devices, as fully stocked app stores are key to its success in this smartphone era.
With the sudden announcement of Huawei UK ban, sales for the company dropped rigorously by 16% during April-June 2020. On the other hand, Huawei has announced that it will come up with a new alternative to Android and is in progress since last seven years. Claiming it as a ‘Plan B’, Huawei is planning to build such a solution for its users and give them the best experience in near future.
What if a user has Huawei phone?
Existing global users of Huawei and Honor smartphones and tablets will receive services including security updates, after-sales services. This is applicable for all the products sold till now and are still available in stock globally.
How is telecom world responding to it?
Telcos are leaving no stone unturned to expedite the deployment of 5G technology. Nevertheless, discontinuation of Huawei equipment is definitely going to slow down the entire process. Companies are shifting from Huawei to buy 5G kit from Juniper Networks, Qualcomm, or Cisco in the US. Ericsson in Sweden and Nokia in Finland are facilitating network kits for 5G network UK connections to be rolled out at the earliest and deliver excellent and immersive network experience to users.
Future of Huawei– 2020 and beyond
In 2020, at the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC), Huawei announced HarmonyOS 2.0 beta version that will be deployed in smartwatches and TVs whereas a beta version would be launched by the end of December 2020. With this significant step, Huawei will be moving forward with HarmonyOS 2.0 if they are unable to use Android in future due to ban. This OS will support various scenarios and can be used to devise a wider range of devices like tablets, smartphones, wearables, smartwatches, in-car head units. Such a technology will be enabled to provide new-age products with low latency and greater security meeting ever-growing consumer demands.
Conclusion
As UK decided to discontinue Huawei services, a troop of countries are joining the forces to discard the Chinese company. Planned in a part-by-part way, telecom firms are not allowed to purchase new Huawei 5G equipment after December 31, 2020. Next big step for telcos is to remove all Huawei equipment from already installed 5G networks by the end of 2027. It is also anticipated that 6G networks would be commercialised by 2028 with full adoption in large scale by 2030.
Guest article written by: I am Raj Vignesh, sales and marketing with RantCell, MegronTech limited, Swindon UK. I am telecom industry expert and have published several topics related to 4G, 5G technologies, wireless network, SDN and NFV, network slicing, and connected cars.
References:
https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-google-android-ban-988382/
https://www.techradar.com/in/news/huawei-ban
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47041341
https://theprint.in/opinion/the-concert-of-democracies-will-shift-its-no-huawei-focus-to-india/462173/
https://www.techradar.com/in/news/huawei-suffers-major-android-setback-as-google-pulls-access-to-core-apps-and-services
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Huawei-crackdown/Huawei-enters-a-new-world-How-the-US-ban-will-affect-global-tech