What does it mean if Google takes Android away from Huawei?

In the front pages of all the newspapers, from yesterday night, a sensational news appeared: Google removes the Android license from Huawei with the immediate consequence of not being able to install, on all Huawei smartphones, the subsequent updates of the Android system, the Google apps and above all the Google Play Store necessary to download and update the other apps. The news was published by the Reuters news agency and is absolutely true and confirmed. On the Reuters website it can be read, without too many turns of words and without extenuating circumstances, that " Google has suspended all business with Huawei in the hardware, software and technical services sectors except for those publicly available through open source licenses ". Therefore, we are not talking about hypotheses, future scenarios or possibilities, but about a real fact that prevents Huawei, starting today, from using Google services on its phones . All this following Trump's decision to put Huawei on a commercial blacklist of companies that can operate in the U.S. only by requesting special licenses. This decision was taken, in a nutshell, to prevent Huawei from working on 5G infrastructures in the US for "national security" reasons, thus fearing that the Chinese company could spy on the USA from the inside.
Update 29/6/2019: Huawei can return to have commercial relations with American companies, so Google will return to support the Android Huawei and Honor smartphones in a normal way and without limitations or restrictions.

What does it mean that Google removes Android licenses from Huawei "> stores other than Google Play such as Aptoide or manually installed from APK files.

The Google Play Store cannot be installed on Huawei devices, therefore to update the apps you will need an alternative store to the Google one or a manual update from the APK.

Security patches released by Google and brought to Android via the Google Play Protect service will not be available for Huawei smartphones.

Huawei can continue to install Android on its devices, but only the open source version, that is, the one called AOSP (Android Open Source Project). Android updates and security patches will therefore only be available when the open source version is also updated.

For Huawei smartphones currently on sale, those already released on the market before this cut and those that will come out but have already received certification (such as the Honor 20) there are no consequences . This means that those who have a Huawei mobile phone or tablet can continue to use the Google Play Store, Google apps and receive security updates (source an official tweet from the Android account).

For Huawei smartphones currently on sale and already on the market before this cut, there are no consequences. This means that those who have a Huawei mobile phone or tablet can continue (more or less) safely to use the Google Play Store, Google apps and receive security updates (source an official tweet from the Android account).

Huawei has told CNBC that "all present and future smartphones Huawei and Honor will continue to receive updates and security patches without any limitation and that the Android operating system will continue to develop a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience. to all users globally. "

May 21: The U.S. Commerce Department suspended Huawei's ban for three months. This means that during this period Huawei may have commercial relations with other American companies (including Google) while trying to demonstrate that the company should not be included in the black list of companies dangerous for "national security". We therefore hope that everything will fit and that Huawei smartphones will not have limitations even in the future.

While the implications for 5G could affect the people less, the decision by Google and other American companies such as Qualcomm (which produces Snapdragon smartphone processors) to break the commercial agreements with Huawei, will have, in the current state of affairs, a significant impact on the many smartphone owners of the Chinese house. Just think that Huawei was going to outperform Samsung in the sale of mobile phones all over the world this year becoming the number one company, which has already happened in Italy.
It's a big blow for the Chinese company, which relies heavily on Android for smartphones it sells outside of China. While Huawei smartphones are sold in China with a modified version of Android that does not have Google apps pre-installed (because they are blocked in China), in Europe and outside China, Google apps are essential and vital. While as far as hardware components are concerned, Huawei is certainly able to produce them by itself, at the software level, if the Google Play Store is not installed by default on smartphones it would become very inconvenient to download apps and keep them updated.

So what will happen with Google and Huawei in the coming months?

For future scenarios the only thing we can do now are pure guesses and predictions that we try to summarize.

• First of all, if Huawei loses Android, things will go badly for the Chinese company, because even if a proprietary operating system came out, even if it were good, it will be very difficult that this can compete with Android and iOS and gain the trust from consumers.
• On the other hand, Google will also lose a lot from this breakdown, because Huawei is now the company that sells the most smartphones in the world, therefore removing Google apps from Huawei means removing them to a quarter of Android users (I don't have statistics in hand but I don't think I go very far).
• Against Google, then, there are already many protests from Huawei users around the world and above all European and surely class action and complaints will be launched from all over, since those who bought an Android phone expect it to maintain its functionality over time and that it is safe.
• All the other companies, the Chinese ones (like Oneplus and Xiaomi) first of all, but also Samsung and other non-American companies, will certainly be very worried about making the same end as Huawei. This ban by Huawei is a really worrying precedent, because it highlights the power that Google has to decide the fate of any phone manufacturer. Also, is it possible that a law in the US is enough to make Google decide (or to impose) to break commercial relations with a non-American company?
• A trade war of these proportions could lead China to respond with a ban for American companies to use components manufactured by Chinese companies, putting them all in trouble. For example, Apple, which could earn a lot from Huawei's collapse, manufactures its iPhones in China and uses many Chinese components within its smartphones which are also vital to keeping costs low.
• We will surely be the ones who will lose us, and in addition to losing a valid alternative like Huawei in choosing the cell phone to buy, we will assist, if the trade war between the USA and China continues with this escalation, to an increase in the prices of all smartphones.

Personally, after reading and rereading the news and the many comments that followed, I am very worried, both because Huawei makes excellent phones, and because it is a little scary to think that such a decision dropped from above can prevent me from enjoying a product that I purchased or would like to buy in the future. The hope and the hope is that all this will be resolved with nothing done and that things will remain as before. If it is true that Android is the number one system for mobile phones, it is also undeniable that Huawei is a company that works well, selling smartphones at competitive prices and accessible to all. If it really ends up with Google taking away its Android apps and licenses from Huawei it would be a great damage and a serious loss for everyone.