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Huawei On A Gamble With It’s Own OS

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Chinese phone maker giant, Huawei, in a show of resilience to the US trade sanctions on China has launched a new device into the market. The new smartphone, Mate 30 Pro lack what many of its predecessors have. Running on Google’s Android OS. This is as a result of the ongoing trade war between China and the US leading to both countries having to flex muscles and trying to see who will bend first.

The US restrictions on phone-maker Huawei are having a ripple effect felt across the tech world. These restrictions have marked an escalation in US efforts branding the phone maker as a security risk an allegation that Beijing has always denied.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration added Huawei- the world’s second-largest smartphone maker to what it calls an “entity list” which bans the company from acquiring technology from US firms without government approval but a temporary licence of which even then it does not cover new launches.

This move has made other industry players such as Google and British chipmaker ARM to suspend business with the firm.
It is the move by Google barring Huawei from accessing some updates to the Android operating system that might seem to be a great blow to the company. And that is the talking point across the tech world. Of how the company will navigate across the murky waters it has found itself in within the last few months of being at the center of the US-China trade war.

Away from the ban and tariff wars, there’s a frontier that could mean even more to ardent Huawei users. The announcement by the already-battered Huawei that is already developing its own operating system after being locked out of the Android platform.

This might seem to be a bold but one risky move. In terms of volume, by the end of December 2018, Android had close to 2.3 billion users or 74.6 % of the total 3.1 billion in the smartphone market share world over. That in itself goes to show the extent to which the Google product has taken in stride across the smartphone world.
This makes Android the single most used platform in the world a matter that may make this new phone recently launched a hard sell in regions where many are accustomed to using Gmail and GMaps.

The reason why this move is risky is because it has been tried and failed before. By another Asian smartphone maker, Samsung and Windows 8.1 and 10 Mobile. Samsung, for example, developed the Tizen operating system with an aim of continuing to create its own niche such as Apple’s iPhone.

However, since the launch of the OS, Samsung has been able to run the system only on the Z phone series. This is largely due to its low reception and acceptance in the market. Despite Samsung’s prominence in the tech world, it has seen it difficult in trying to woe developers to its fold. In return, the smartphone maker has been slow in having to run the OS on other phones. With this coming into play, Huawei’s move is to develop its own system may not be a walk in the park. Convincing developers to release readily available applications and giving the same breath on quality of services to the users is something the company should work on.

A mistake by Samsung is being slow to release new updates as often as what happens with the Android and the iPhone OS. To users, getting updates is vital as it ensures satisfaction and quality.

Let Huawei walk this road but tread it carefully as it may spell doom on their end and grind them to crush it from the giant it has become today. The decision by the China-based company and how it will recover from this brazen attack will either empower or harm the maker given that it is at the forefront in the developmental phase of the 5G network, the next phase in communication.

Journalist/Digital Media Strategist who aims at telling stories that matter. Covers Business, Technology, and anything that tries to make sense. Follow on Twitter @KevenKabuya

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