Huawei banned in the United States
If you follow news about tech, you should already be aware that Huawei can’t use Android anymore. Indeed, it all started the last year, when Trump considered Huawei as a threat to the national security of the United States and called the Chinese group a spy. It may seem a bit hypocritical since all Google apps, Facebook, etc… also recover all our data. That’s probably why they are forbidden in China and you must use them with a VPN as i experienced during my trip in Beijing when Cheetah Mobile invited me there. So US have banned 38 of Huawei’s international subsidiaries in order to limit their access to US technologies. You must know that Huawei uses a US technology named Kirin for their smartphones. Google is also prohibited from working with Huawei on new device models or providing Google’s apps including Gmail, Maps, YouTube, the Play Store and others for preload or download on these devices. So, on the last new Huawei phones like the Huawei p40 and p40 pro, Google apps are not installed by default anymore. There is still a way to install them externally or use alternative, but for an average user who knows nothing about smartphone, it can fastly be restrictive.
Huawei’s new strategy
At first, I was wondering how Huawei was going to do. And they officially released their own OS named Harmony OS to bypass US ban. Harmony OS was developed far from the system architecture of Linux and Unix, like Android and iOS. Harmony OS uses a common micro-kernel and kernels suitable for all connected devices (smartphone, tablet, connected watches, connected TV, etc.). It is open-source to counter AOSP, the open-source variant of Android.
What is the impact on Huawei themes?
As a themer, it’s very important to keep up to date with what’s going on, because the world of smartphones can change very quickly. If Huawei gave up themes, many themers will be jobless. I think Huawei understimated the impact of US ban. Now, the company admits they can no longer manufacture smartphones with Kirin chips from September, 15th. As a result, Huawei‘s next Mate 40 smartphone, scheduled for release in September, could be the last phone with a Kirin chip. This means that Huawei must find a new manufacturer for a new chip. Basically, i’m not really a Huawei fan but the company seems to do well because they have exceeded Samsung in number of sales this year. But for the sales of my themes, the biggest buyers come from US. I make a living by making themes, so strategically, for me, making themes for Huawei theme store is no longer worth it. But i’m still going to share free Hello Kitty Huawei themes on my blog though.
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