At the beginning of 2018, Huawei seemed poised to break into the United States market. The company tried to release the Mate 10 Pro in the country with wireless carriers. Rumored pressure by the US government caused US carriers to back away from the deal. On a related note, Chinese manufacturer ZTE was recently banned from the United States on a long-term basis due to wrongdoing.
ZTE can no longer source hardware or software from US companies, which may cripple the firm. Now it appears Huawei is in the same crosshairs with a federal investigation underway. Like ZTE, Huawei may have broken US sanctions on Iran. Unfortunately, that could lead to the company facing the same ban as ZTE. A ban could potentially rip Android OS away from Huawei.
According to various sources, Huawei is working on a backup plan.
Huawei’s Alternative Mobile OS Plans Date Back to 2012
Apparently, Huawei has spent the past six years working on a new operating system. The company wanted to utilize the OS on smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Perhaps the OS started as a plan to unify devices across a new operating system. However, now a brand new operating system might save Huawei from complete financial ruin. Losing Android in a sudden manner would hit the world’s number three smartphone manufacturer hard.
The unnamed, detailless operating system is available in-house only right now. Huawei reportedly didn’t believe the OS was polished enough years ago. Of course, building a brand new operating system requires countless hours and huge sums of money. Huawei more than likely never considered its development a priority. Potential sanctions by the US government would definitely change the company’s attitude here, though.
An Innovative Smartphone Manufacturer With Promise
Aside from US-related troubles, Huawei is enjoying a standout year in the smartphone world. Analysts and consumers alike embraced the Huawei Mate 10 Pro and the Huawei P20 Pro. The company continue to make powerful smartphones at a reasonable price with innovative features and hardware. In Europe and Asia, Huawei continues to thrive and bring in loyal fans.
In the end, problems with the US government could hurt the company in a massive way. Identical sanctions to ZTE would cause Huawei to lose access to Android OS. Even more limited sanctions would sting for the company. For now, the company’s dreams of entering the US market seem over due to a distrustful US government. If the company avoids sanctions and penalties, then Huawei should weather the storm well long-term.
