Three months back in Feb 2019, we all get to see the first wave of foldable smartphones with the launch of two smartphones- Samsung Galaxy Fold & Huawei Mate X. Out of these two smartphones, Huawei Mate X stands out to be a winner over the latter because of its most polished and refined design in folding phone category. Because of unique design, Huawei mate X, felt realistic for me to use this phone as a daily driver.
Now, if you fast- forward to May 2019, both of these smartphones are in a turmoil right now. Samsung Galaxy Fold is in the controversy of the defective screen, and the future of Mate X is unknown after the ban by Donald Trump on the Chinese multinational company Huawei Technologies Ltd.
Main Controversy behind the United States Ban
On May 22nd, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order instructing the Wilbur Ross (Commerce Secretary) to pose a ban on the smartphone maker company Huawei. The main focus of the prohibition was National Security. It is a bold move by the Trump Administration to pose a ban without singling out any nation or company.
President Trump even said that these foreign adversaries pose a threat to American telecommunications networks. Some American officials, including the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, warned its allies to stop using Huawei or any other Chinese technologies for building 5G or Fifth Generation networks.
Otherwise, the United States will stop sharing intelligence with them. Some time back even American Intelligence and Pentagon official issued several warnings that shortly, Chinese Firms will be able to control their networks as it will be easier for the Chinese firms to not only intercept secure messages but also secretly send them back to China.
In addition to this, it would have been possible for the Chinese authorities to order a shutdown on the networks in case of any conflict between the two giants of the world. A shutdown can disrupt the American Infrastructure by disabling gas pipelines and cell phone networks. However, the action taken by the trump administration is open for debate, but one thing is sure, it is one of the most extreme moves by the USA against the Chinese Tech.
In response, Huawei has denied all these allegations and its chief executives responded by saying that they will shut down their company instead of diverting or intercepting internet traffic on the orders of Chinese authorities.
The executive order came after the trade war started between China and the United States. Recently, both these countries-imposed hundreds of billions of dollars of tariffs on each other. Earlier, Mr Trump accused the Chinese Authorities of unfair trade practices. Later, he announced an increase in the tax on more than $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The outcome of US Ban
After the instruction of Ban, several US companies like Google, chipmakers Qualcomm, Intel, Xilinx, and Broadcom announced that they are breaking their ties with Huawei. Moreover, it is confirmed that Google will work for only the Next 90 days with them. So, what this means for Huawei?
Well, after the ban, they will not be able to use Android OS on their smartphones or use the processors of either Qualcomm or Intel. I know you might be having several questions like me- what they will do next? What will happen to their recent release of the foldable smartphone- Huawei Mate X? How, they will operate in western countries and Europe? Will they launch a new OS similar to an Android-based OS of China? However, one thing is sure: Huawei will have tough time proceeding in the USA.
Possible Options for Huawei?
After the broken tie with Google, Huawei has two options- one is to launch an OS based on Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It is quite similar to the one started by Oneplus- Oxygen OS. Although Oxygen is based on the Android OS, Oneplus will release all its updates. The second option Huawei have is to launch an entirely new operating system.
However, if the new operating system is not able to draw enough attention of users from all over the world. Then soon, it can become a failure similar to Firefox OS. Besides, this is not it! Both the options will be quite difficult for Huawei to follow as they will not have the support of Google. They will have to start from scratch. It will never be enough for Huawei to build an O; they will need a separate Google Play Store, YouTube app in the region.
Summary
To sum up, it will be quite tricky for the Chinese smartphone company to rebuild itself after the current scenario in the United States. Although, the officials have assured Huawei users that in some time, they will provide a security update for them using (AOSP) Android Open Source Project.
However, there is a catch as the Chinese company will have to go through the certification process of Google. All in all, only time will tell what will happen to Huawei in the future. I know you might have several questions in your mind like what will happen to the recent Huawei Mate X release? Will there be any official release of this foldable smartphone in the US? If you do have similar questions, then do let us know via the comments section.
