Huawei CEO Richard Yu has reportedly said that his firm will roll out its own operating system that will support Android apps, potentially blunting the effect of the US’ recent blacklisting of the Chinese company.
According to reports from Chinese sites Caijing and Phoenix Network Technology, Yu, who heads Huawei’s Consumer Business Group told a WeChat group that the company’s own operating system may be ready as soon as this fall or by next spring at the latest. Yu said that the operating system will be compatible with all android apps and may even improve their performance.
Yu said that the Chinese communications giant had been working on such an operating system since 2012.
While Huawei’s own OS may have been in development for five years, a swift release date is crucial for the tech firm, which recently overtook Apple to become the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer. Following accusations of spying for the Chinese government, US President Donald Trump issued an order barring US firms from supplying Huawei with parts or technology.
Although Huawei was granted a 90-day grace period to continue doing business with US firms, the order will see the company lose access to Google’s apps and services thereafter, and forbid if from using Intel and Qualcomm chips in its devices.
Huawei has denied the accusations of spying, and company founder and overall CEO Ren Zhengfei said on Saturday that the company had been “preparing for this” for a long time.
The crackdown on Huawei comes amid a two-year trade war between Washington and Beijing, and a panic in the US over the alleged security dangers of Chinese technology. The US Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday issued a memo to the tech industry warning that Chinese-made drones may be transmitting their users’ data to Chinese intelligence agencies.