Huawei Holding Back On Harmony OS, Wants Android For As Long As Possible

Huawei is about to launch its new flagship device, Mate 30, this September. While the company has already finished making the Harmony OS, it refuses to use the operating system on its new devices. Apparently, the company wants to preserve its business relationship with Google despite the current situation between the U.S. and China.

The company is now priming its reveal this coming Sept. 19 as announced in the previous months before. The Mate 30 reveal would happen in Munich, Germany. For its hardware, it will be powered with the company’s Kirin 990 chip which has yet to be shown publicly. However, this device will not be the first smartphone to support the Hamrony OS.

In a report from CNBC, an unnamed source within the company said that using the Harmony OS on a smartphone would hurt Huawei’s relationship with Google. The Chinese company has been working on keeping this relationship for many years.

As of the conclusion of the recent trade talks between the U.S. and China, Huawei is still inside its “Entity List” which are companies that are barred from doing business with any U.S. based business. Due to this, Google and Huawei can’t work together directly which means that Huawei cannot use the Android OS anymore.

Like many other smartphones makers, Huawei has relied on Google for many of its devices. While Huawei had another reprieve, its reliance on Android would be a sound plan for the company in the long run. If the reprieve is not given again, Huawei could suddenly be in a tight spot.

Analysts say that Huawei separating with Google could hurt the company in the long run. The Android platform already has many features and built-in apps which many people rely on most of the time. Without those apps, many consumers would be averse in using the smartphone at all. Aside from being a new OS, the Harmony OS still lacks many apps found in Android and could potentially lead to a cold reception and bad reviews for the new device.

For now, Huawei is planning to settle on an open source version of Android for their future devices. This version would allow users to technically operate an Android OS and download the apps that are usually included in Google’s smartphone OS. The September release would not be the first time we’ll see the Harmony OS used outside of a smart TV.