On September 18, in Munich, Huawei plans to launch Mate 30, its new smartphone. The date is just over a week after the new iPhones will be unveiled. The company, however, promises that the announcement of Mate 30 will be more than just smartphones.
This event will be the smartphone giant first big event since the company was added to the U.S trade blacklist. Moreover, this move also comes after years of allegations ranging from spying to sanctions violations.
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However, with the ban, the move will mark a key moment of truth for a company that has so far been dependent on offerings from U.S. companies like Google.
Mate 30
The Mate 30 marks a push into 5G. Besides, it could potentially launch without Google apps. The recent U.S. government reprieve only applied to already announced products.
Besides, the company also says that it will continue to use the Android OS and ecosystem if the U.S. government allows us to do so. But if do not get the permission they have to continue to develop their own operating system and ecosystem.
The company has tried to develop its operating system. They call it HarmonyOS (Hongmeng). However, they recently unveiled an operating system is largely limited to low-end handsets and IoT devices. Thus, The company is also certainly readying itself for a long-term life after Google.
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Cited from CNBC, the company mentions that the phone will launch with or without Google apps. It just depends on how things shake out over the next few weeks.
That would likely amount to a minor nuisance, requiring users to download them after purchase, while a full-out Android brand would prove far more harmful to its bottom line.
However, experts think that it seems quite unlikely at the moment, that the company would attempt to launch such a high-end device with its own partially baked operation system.