Huawei Considers Rivals to Android After U.S. Ban

Huawei said it’s working on its own operating system for its mobile handsets and will consider rivals to Google’s Android, according to Bloomberg.

The Chinese telecom equipment giant said it was in talks with the Alphabet unit about how to proceed after Google confirmed it would cut access to some of Huawei’s operating system features for the company’s new devices in response to the announcement.

Should Google’s system no longer be available, "then the alternative option will naturally come out, either from Huawei or someone else," Abraham Liu, Huawei’s representative to the European Union institutions, said at an event in Brussels. Liu said Huawei had been working on its own operating system but that he didn’t have the details about when this would be ready. Huawei would do everything in its power to mitigate the impact of the U.S. decisions, Liu said.

There are few major alternatives to Android, the dominant operating system for smartphones. Blackberry shut down its OS in 2016, Microsoft has all but ended support for its Windows Phone system, and Samsung’s Tizen is used for the company’s smartwatches.

The U.S. Department of Commerce granted a 90-day relief for certain U.S. broadband companies and wireless customers using Huawei equipment. For Huawei phone users, the temporary reprieve means Google will be able to provide key Android security updates during the 90-day time frame, but future Huawei phones will still lack Google’s apps.

"For existing models already in market there is no major impact," Liu said of Huawei devices running on Google’s Android. "For the future one, both teams are still working together to figure out what to do." Liu said that while there might be "some minor impact of some components or parts, I can assure that the leading, advanced solutions has been safeguarded by our own back-up plan.