It’s already apparent now that Huawei devices have been denied from using Google Mobile Services (GMS) since May 2019. Ever since the ban by the US, the company has been adapting to the situation by finding alternative solutions.
Huawei Austria head Wang Fei stated that the company has no plans to use GMS even if the ban is lifted. Speaking to German reporters, Fei expressed that Huawei wants to rid of their dependence on US politics and Google’s ecosystem. Instead, the Chinese tech giant is now focusing on its Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) as a viable alternative.
However, company spokespersons outside of Austria shared different opinions to other western journalists. They’ve told XDA and The Verge that Huawei still favours an open Android ecosystem, including GMS as their first choice. The spokespersons added that if the company is not able to use them, they still have an ability to develop their own solutions.
“I believe both Google and Huawei hope a license will be granted, but you would need to confirm that with Google,” they told The Verge. “As a result of the entity listing we are now developing HMS – inviting app developers to come on board. etc. This offer has received a lot of positive interest in Europe. It’s worth reiterating that we were one of the lead contributors to the Android open source operating system over the last five years.”
While Wang Fei’s opinion of the company’s stance in the whole debacle seems steadfast, Huawei themselves think otherwise. Even without services such as GMail, Maps and other Google-made apps, the brand’s own HMS service has been steadily gaining support. It’s very likely that the company will not hesitate to reestablish relationships with Google when the opportunity presents itself.
(Source: derStandard / The Verge / XDA.)
