Tag: Huawei Ban

Besides HongMeng OS, Huawei Is Also Developing Harmony OS

In the Q2 of 2019, Huawei had to face a major setback after it was entitled to an entity list by the US Commerce Department. This step revoked all American companies from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese organisation. The major impact of this move was faced by Huawei’s smartphone business which was left stranded after Google was forced to withdraw support of Android OS. Nevertheless, it led to the revelation that Chinese company had been developing its very own operating since 2012 which is called HongMeng OS. Now, a new report states that besides, HongMeng OS, the company is developing another OS which is called Harmony OS.

According to past reports, the HongMeng OS, although nearly ready, is not slated to ship on its handsets post US ban being lifted. The company had planned to introduce the new OS to its other products (like consumer grade home appliances) rather than smartphones. The news arrives after Android is confirmed to be utilized by the company as its primary OS. Notably, HongMeng OS is stated to be faster than both Android OS and MacOS, even if it is not planned for PC, laptops and handsets.

Huawei had filed a trademark application in the EU Intellectual Property Office for its new operating system. In comparison to HongMeng OS, Harmony OS is being built specifically for its diverse range of smartphones. It is probably under development to address future concerns of a similar ban being levied on the company again. Furthermore, Huawei is hosting its developers conference on August 9th through 11th at the company’s Songshan Lake campus. The main focus of the event will be 5G but more news regarding the potential Android replacement OS can be expected to be unveiled then.

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The company is taking cautious steps post the ban. It is evident that future ban scares is one of the major driving force behind the development of Harmony OS. Huawei is decreasing its dependency on the west and US based companies through the new OS. No finer details are available as of now but more updates are expected in the arriving weeks.

July 15, 2019
Huawei Confirms HongMeng OS, But Will Stick To Android For The Near Future

On the 12th of July, Chinese tech titan, Huawei hosted a press conference in which it talked about the its operations over the last 6 months. The company, despite being put on the Entity List by the US Department of Commerce, has reportedly increased its revenue for the first half of 2019. The Entity List designation barred all American company’s from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese corporation. Therefore, it could not sell the number of smartphones running Android OS which were originally anticipated. Following the ban, it was revealed that Huawei had been working on a secret OS for year’s. It was speculated that if the US ban is not lifted, the company would sell smartphones in the future with its in house developed HongMeng OS aka ArkOS. Fortunately, the ban has been raised and it seems that Huawei will continue selling Android smartphones rather than switching to HongMeng OS, at least in the near future.

A top official of Huawei was seen claiming an increase in the revenue for first half of the year; It can be noted that the ban took effect in May and that the company had a successful run in the first four months of 2019. Only the figures for the second half of the year will show the true implications of the ban on Huawei. Especially now after the ban has been lifted but its affects are still lingering; the America stance on the situation allows US companies to sell their services and technology to the Huawei as long as it does not threaten national security.

In the press conference, Huawei also confirmed the name of its upcoming operating system dubbed HongMeng OS. However, the company, unlike part reports, isn’t planning on making it into an Android replacement for its current or near future handsets. For now the company has chosen to stick with the OS being developed for its other varying product lineups. It is speculated that HongMeng OS can still be used if another US ban is levied on the company as a worse case scenario.

Also Read: Google Allows Its Employees To Listen To Voice Assistant Interaction With Users

The second half of 2019 will tell how well Huawei has managed to pull through since the ban. The company has yet to take a step back with its myriad of smartphone releases over just the past month. Huawei had reportedly shipped over 100 million smartphones in the year, before the ban. The true repercussions might be seen soon. Stay tuned for more updates on the tech giant and the trade tensions.

July 12, 2019
HongMeng OS Is Upto 60 Percent Faster Than Android OS And MacOS

It was revealed a while back that Huawei’s proprietary HongMeng OS has been planned in secrecy years ago. The top officials of the Chinese company had decided on the development of a native OS after fearing US based software dominance. Skip a few years forward and that is all but true. Android and Apple are the most popular OS out there that belong from the US with which China has always had unstable trade relations.

Now, a report claims that the recently announced HongMeng OS is reportedly 60% faster than its main competitor Android.

HongMeng OS turned out to be Huawei’s trump card against US monopoly. It was finally unveiled from secrecy and had sought to ensure Huawei’s long term market security regardless of international trade relations. In a new report from, Chairman of Huawei had claimed that its HongMeng OS outperforms Android by a massive 60% lead. The aforementioned OS will complete development; regardless of Huawei being able to continue business with US companies. This arrives after the US ban that prohibited the company to have unrestricted operations in the western nation.

In terms of speed, Huawei has claimed that the OS is much faster than Google’s as well as Apple’s MacOS. HongMeng OS will also be introduced to the company’s laptop computer offerings too and are reportedly faster than MacOS. Huawei’s OS is designed to be versatile with a broad range of compatibility across different electronic devices which will interact with one another. A move that is similar to Apple’s iCloud based electronic economy and family connectivity. The company’s top officials have acknowledged its two giant competitors which have a sizeable application ecosystem; true with Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store apps which contain millions of apps.

Also Read: Redmi K20 Pro Indian Price Leaks, Starts At Rs 24,999

The implications of the new report are massive. An OS that is both flexible and more powerful than what is currently offered in the market; it can possibly even disrupt the westward focused technology power structure. The claims can currently not be disproved since the HongMeng OS hasn’t been released yet. However, even exaggerated it may still hold some truth regarding performance and speed.

July 6, 2019
The US Clears Huawei Off Its Entity List, Can Restore Relations With American Firms

In the month of May, the US Commerce Department designated the Chinese tech titan, Huawei to an entity list. This move revoked all American companies from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese corporation.

Subsequently, Huawei had to deal with a significant setback as major companies including Google and Microsoft had to withdraw their software support for the former’s hardware offerings. As it seemed things could not get worse, ARM, the British semiconductor and software design company also pulled off the plug. Hence, Huawei could no longer manufacture its Kirin chipsets as they incorporated Cortex architecture which is developed by ARM.

Nevertheless, the reason that induced the ban on Huawei in the first place is that the US government accused the company of installing backdoors on its 5G equipment which was considered as a threat to the national security.

Following a month of turmoil, things may get back on track for Huawei. At the G20 summit which is currently being held in Osaka, leaders of both the countries sat together to discuss trade tensions which has now been de-escalated to some extent. According to reports American president, Donald Trump, for the time being, has allowed US-based companies to restore trade relations with Huawei. Therefore, the Chinese corporation can once again buy products and services from American businesses until further notice.

Intriguingly, the US government stated that it will hold the tariffs on China which were previously expected to see a significant rise. In return, China will be purchasing huge quantities of agricultural products produced by US locals.

Despite the fact, circumstances have gotten much better for Huawei, at least for now, the company might take some severe steps to ensure it never has to go through such hardships in the future.

Though the company can again register new smartphones with Android OS, it may still decide to launch a handful of devices with Ark OS or HongMeng Os, the companies in house developed operating system. This will allow Huawei to break free from the monopoly that has been created by the American companies.

Also Read: Apple Shifts Mac Pro Production From US To China

All in all, not much can be said about the plans that Huawei might have formed during the short yet difficult period it had to endure. Only the future will unravel what lies in store for Huawei.

Though this is definitely a positive report for all Huawei and Honor device owners which are now likely to get extended software support on their smartphones or tablets.

June 29, 2019
Apple Increases iPhone Production After Huawei US Ban

Apple and Huawei have been neck-and-neck in regards to their global smartphone market share. The lead is taken by Samsung while the aforementioned companies go back and forth for the second place. Huawei had almost cemented its lead when the US-China trade wars severely hampered the company’s business. A new report now points at Apple raising its iPhone production following the ban on the Chinese company.

Huawei had been accused of installing backdoors on its networking equipment and providing the data to its home Government, China. The ban sought to isolate the eastern tech giant due to concerns regarding data security by the US Government. Apple is reportedly taking advantage of the ban and is increasing the production of its handsets across the entire quarter. The report has claimed that the American company will make an incremental rise over past estimates.

Apple was originally reported to have planned manufacturing about 39 million units, which has now been estimated to rise to 40 million. The increase will last till the end of Q2, that is the end of June. It has been speculated that Apple is increasing production to respond to increasing demand for the iPhone in a few markets. The increase should fill the gap in the market left behind by Huawei, one of the largest smartphone OEM.

Apple is predicted to focus 75% of its increased production on iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models. The remainder will be spread largely across the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 lineups. The bump is a temporary measure as the tech giant cannot hope to maintain the rise in the long run. Apple could potentially warrant US tariffs on iPhone sales due to the production of its devices in China.

Also Read: Honor Promises Continued Support For Existing Android Smartphones

The US Trump ban on Huawei has barred the company from sales of technology and components from American-based companies. Apple will take full advantage of the situation to secure a lead over its crippled competitor. Furthermore, the iPhone 2019 flagship models are just around the corner. It is expected to release in September to its global audience and will be a great new addition to its wide offerings of electronic devices.

June 28, 2019
Honor Promises Continued Support For Existing Android Smartphones

Huawei has been going through extremely rough waters for the last couple of weeks. The Chinese company, however, has not taken a step back with its business in any manner. The tech giant has shown no signs of slowing down, with new smartphones such as the Nova 5 series being released. Now, Honor, Huawei’s subsidiary, announced its commitment towards every one of its users with continued Android support and updates.

Our commitment to our fans. More information to follow. pic.twitter.com/qXVp1CcdiF
— Honor India (@HiHonorIndia) June 27, 2019

The sub-brand was made by Huawei as a dual-brand strategy. The former will aim at mid to low budget smartphones while the latter will compete in the premium markets. Honor provides smartphones that target younger consumers and is known to release tablet and wearable electronic gadgets as well.

Honor India went on Twitter to share a few lines dedicated to its loyal customers in a reassuring move. The tweet has the company promise its continued support for existing as well as upcoming smartphones that have been unveiled in the recent past. The support will encompass Android and its various security patches and updates. This claim will include every Honor smartphone and tablets that have already been launched.

Honor’s tweet will seek to ease tensions surrounding the uncertainty of support on their handsets. The public message was for all existing and future owners of Honor smartphones. Furthermore, devices in the Honor 20 series, namely the Honor 20, 20 Pro, 20i will receive Android Q in the near future. The company has also planned the Android 10 update for more of its “popular” handsets, although no official list has yet been given. The move from Huawei’s sub-brand should alleviate concerns from its loyal customers and prospective buyers.

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The China-based company’s words will have its customers breathe a sigh of relief. Honor has been successful in India due to its wide range of smartphones that are available at every price bracket. The devices essentially cater to every possible demographic of users. The arriving weeks will tell how true the promise turns out to be, and how the company fares under increasing tensions.

June 27, 2019
Indian Government May Launch It Own Chat App Like WhatsApp

The increased hostility between the US and China have sent the rippling waves of cause and effect to the entire world. Trade tensions between the two highly influential regions have already seen victims. Huawei was one of the most notable to be caught in the crossfire. The Chinese company had been dealt a major blow to its business. To combat a similar fate, the Indian Government is considering the development of an indigenous application for chat and emails.

The US has shown that it is capable of pressurising or enforcing restrictions which have heavy implications on any organisation or country. Senior Government officials in India were in a state of alert following the US sanctioned bans on Huawei. This was due to companies like Intel, ARM, Google and Qualcomm severing ties with the company after the ban. These large MNCs important due to their technology or services that are utilized by virtually every nation. Furthermore, if for some reason the US places any country on such a blacklist, it can lead to severe complications.

India, to tackle this, is planning to develop its own proprietary chat app similar to WhatsApp with other homegrown secure communications network. The apps would generally be made available for the various Indian Government agencies, to protect the country from possible vulnerabilities. This will be a counter to any rising geopolitical tensions with other nations. The US Commerce Department banning Huawei incited strong discussions within India’s top brass. The discussion encompassed plans for developing a secure platform for exchanging strategically important information.

The southeast Asian country is considering the implementation of this system for Government communications at the very least. This will ensure a degree of autonomy and self-dependence that would not have been achievable otherwise. Indian Government officials have already begun calling for the insulation of communications with reduced reliance on private solutions. The plan details a chat app which will keep and store all important related data within the country and not on some remote servers.

The US is currently pressuring India to bar Huawei from 5G in India. This arrives after plans for the first wave of 5G trials. Huawei has asked the Indian Government to take an independent stance on this, with no “back door entry” offered. India has yet to give a response to this. The tech giant received a ban from the US on 21s May, barring Huawei’s products and also barring US companies to supply software or hardware components. A company cannot ever be completely self-reliant. It is a regular phenomenon where technology and services are exchanged within the industries. The same as how Huawei suffered from the ban, any nation could also technically be crippled by strategic nations like the US.

Also Read: BlackBerry And LG Are Making Autonomous Cars

According to Government reports, the US Trade Representatives have already red-flagged India’s data privacy bill and intermediary guidelines. Basically, American companies like Facebook are resisting efforts of data localisation within the Indian subcontinent. The ban on Huawei only points at the possibility of any country being banned whenever they desire to do so. The localisation efforts by the Government could prevent such reliance and save the nation from a crippling state in a worst-case scenario with the “Sarkari” app.

June 27, 2019
Huawei Smartphone Shipments To Drop By Up To 60 % Due To US Ban

Last month, the United States government put Chinese telecom giant Huawei on an entity list which barred all American companies from doing business with it. Due to the decision, Huawei lost access to business with companies like Google, Microsoft and Intel. The former was the most important for its smartphone business, as it meant the company will not be able to provide software updates to its devices. It was expected that due to this decision, sales of the company’s handsets will reduce drastically. Now, a report claims Huawei will face a drop in smartphone shipments by up to 60% in 2019 in comparison to last year.

About the report

Huawei Mate 20 Pro

As mentioned above, Huawei is expected to face a dip in its smartphone shipments from 40 percent to 60 percent over last year if the ban continues. This dip in sales is claimed to last until the year 2021 starting when the company is expected to recuperate. The percentage might translate to a drop in shipments volumes ranging between 40 million and 60 million devices. Due to the loss in sales, Huawei may also be planning to stop all shipments of its latest Honor 20 series; which is supposed to go on sale in Europe starting the 21st June and is a flagship smartphone of its subsidiary Honor.

Huawei P30 Pro

Also read: Google Accused Of Copying Song Lyrics In Search Results

To counter the US inflicted ban, Huawei has been reported to be working on its operating system for a while. The new software may be based on Android and arrive without any Google services whatsoever. While the name of the OS is still a mystery; it is believed it will be called the HongMengOS in China and as the OakOS/ArkOS globally. Unfortunately, it is not known when Huawei will announce its latest operating system; but it is expected to be unveiled in the fall, which refers to the fourth quarter of the year.

June 17, 2019
US Chipmakers Want TO Remove The Huawei Trade Ban

In the month of March, the US Commerce Department put Chinese tech giant, Huawei in an entity list. This move barred all American companies from having any sort of trade relations with the Chinese corporation which has caused a global stir up. Following the ban, Huawei was left stranded due to the withdrawal of support from American companies for its software and hardware offerings. The major impact of the ban was received by the company’s smartphone division which was once anticipated to take over Samsung in the year 2020.

Huawei is not the only company that is undergoing discomfort after the ban. As US-based chipmakers including Qualcomm and Intel are losing a lot of business. Therefore, in order to curb the losses, American companies are lobbying against Huawei’s trade ban. According to a Reuters report, officials from several US based companies are questioning US Commerce Department about the ban imposed on the Chinese company. Speaking of figures, Huawei spent $70 Billion buying components in the year 2018, out of which $11 billion went to U.S. firms including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology Inc.

Huawei is accused of installing backdoors on its networking equipment which incorporates proprietary components developed in house by the company. Taking this fact into consideration, American Chipmakers want the US government to lift the ban from the Chinese company’s smartphone division. As these devices utilise commonly available components which are unlikely to present the same security concerns as companies networking gear.

Earlier this month, Huawei Chairman, Liang Hua told the Chinese press that Google, which sells hardware, software and technical services to Huawei, has also advocated in favour of lifting the ban so it can keep the trade relation alive.

Also Read: Amazon Sued Over Alexa Recording Children’s Voices

Another senior executive from Huawei’s Mexico division stated that the company has not asked anyone specifically to lobby on its behalf. Following is the statement of the said executive.

“They’re doing it by their own desire because, for many of them, Huawei is one of their major customers,” he said, adding that chipmakers knew that cutting Huawei off could have “catastrophic” consequences for them.

Amidst all the pandemonium, only time will tell what the future beholds for Huawei.

June 17, 2019
Huawei Cancels MateBook X And E Over US Trade Ban

Huawei had unveiled its new series of laptops dubbed the MateBook at the CES Asia and MWC in 2019. However, the onset of the US trade ban that has led to the cancellation of the new laptop lineup. The news arrives after Huawei faced the implications of being placed in the US Entity List (National Security Threat List), this has made the company unable to supply the PC. The CEO of the Chinese tech giant called the current string of events “unfortunate” and the availability of the laptop is dependent on “how long the Entity List will be there.”

Huawei had previously announced plans for a MateBook X and E series laptop. The higher specced X series were to be equipped with Intel Core series chipsets while the E series were to sport ARM architecture based Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 with an affordable price tag. Both laptops would have run on the Windows 10 OS but are still highly unlikely to ship globally. The aftermath of the US and China trade wars are still uncertain with China preparing its own retaliation against the US.

The US President, Donald Trump had his administration pass an executive order on May claiming Huawei as a threat to national security. This implies that the US companies are barred from collaborating with the corporation that is designated threats to the US. Huawei was singled out as the tensions started rising between the trade of the US and China. Any multi-national corporation placed in the Entity List will have its business in the US severely restrictive. The company can no longer buy or utilize US tech with Governments approval.

Huawei, after the ban, could no longer work with any software or hardware that were based in the US. This led to companies like Intel (CPU chipsets), Google (Android OS), ARM (Smartphone Chipset Architecture), Wi-Fi Alliance and many more to stop all business related ventures with the accused company. Since Huawei no longer has access to any of the aforementioned companies’ technology and software, it is practically impossible to hold a business model under such restrictions.

Also Read: Pixel 4 Design Revealed By Google

Additionally, the Commerce Department of the US has left a 90-day window for Huawei to practice with a temporary general license. This, in turn, shall allow the company to complete all necessary and on-going contracts and agreements that are legally binding towards it. However, a report from China has since disputed that the MateBook will supposedly launch in July running Windows OS from Microsoft.

June 13, 2019
Google Outage Linked To Huawei Ban?

Early morning on June 2nd 2019 Google engineers struggled with a four hour Google cloud services outage. This took out critical Google services down, including Google Drive, Gmail, Youtube, and also affected sever other companies including Vimeo and Snapchat who use Google Cloud Services to host their platforms globally.

This comes soon after an announcement from Google stating that the company will remove Huawei as an authorized Android supported OEM and that the company will not officially get Android updates, or future security updates. Google’s services are crucial for any Android smartphone maker and allow for markets outside of China to fully utilize the devices.

This “ban” originated at the US governments blacklisting of Huawei. which banned US companies from using Huawei hardware or doing any kind of business with Huawei. And while a 90 day grace period was granted to the state funded Chinese Electronics and telecom giant, the future looks bleak for the company, and revenue estimates along with market value of the brand has dropped drastically.

China is not happy about this and has suggested a rare minerals export ban, which could intern affect US manufacturers.

“What is interesting is the timing of the outage,” claims our source ( An Ex Huawei Employee ) “this is the company fighting back”, Suggesting that Huawei or those close to Huawei are responsible for the outage.

While Google has not explained what caused the outage publicly and managed to restore services back in four hours, with no impact to infrastructure or data. A large scale attack on Google’s crucial servers could be a possible reason. Google services were detected down in 249 locations in 170 cities around the world something that could have had long term implications on business and productivity. And if this was a third party attack, it could be considered a warning.

Starting between 12-12:15pm PT ThousandEyes detected a global outage in @GCPcloud that is currently ongoing. At this time we can simply confirm the large scale nature of the outage. #gcpdown pic.twitter.com/8Y2jsQNQi7
— Cisco ThousandEyes (@thousandeyes) June 2, 2019

While we are not sure if anyone was responsible or if there was an attack, we will have to wait for an official statement from Google.

June 4, 2019