Chinese tech giant Huawei marked a milestone in its ambitions to become the world’s leading smartphone maker this week, launching its first device with HarmonyOS, an internally developed operating system.
But Andy Purdy, director of security for Huawei USA, said the company is still waiting for a meeting with Google’s Android operating system (GOOG).
“Our commitment is to be able to go back to Google,” Purdy told Yahoo Finance Live. “But we are bending over to try to increase our ability to live without American supplies, because we have to hope that we will not get those supplies.”
Huawei has been banned from using the Google operating system since the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted the Chinese company in 2019, preventing American companies from selling components to it, citing national security concerns. The Trump administration doubled export controls last year, banning Huawei and its suppliers from using American technology and software.
The restrictions represented a significant blow to Huawei’s consumer-oriented businesses, which relied on Google’s Android operating system to power their devices. The company developed its own operating system in response, launching the software for the first time, to power the Mate X2 folding smartphone.
“It has been a very difficult fight,” said Purdy. “But we are taking a very long-term approach and this is helping us to prioritize which products are most important, which components we have.”
Pressure from the U.S. has dramatically altered Huawei’s global presence, both on the consumer side and in its carrier network businesses. Once the world’s second largest smartphone maker, behind Samsung, Huawei’s shipments have dropped 42% in the last three months of 2020. This has placed the company even further behind Samsung, Apple (AAPL) and Xiaomi.
Huawei has acted aggressively to increase its self-sufficiency to contain U.S. sanctions. Its chip design arm HiSilicon Technologies accelerated the production of high-end Kirin mobile processors immediately after Washington’s restrictions. But the ban on the use of American technology has significantly limited these efforts. The company is reportedly in talks with several Chinese chip makers for potential investments that are likely to fill gaps in its semiconductor supply chain.
Filling the software void left by Google’s absence proved to be even more challenging. Although Google’s services are blocked in China, the use of Android allowed Huawei to attract users in regions like Europe, before American sanctions. The company’s HarmonyOS works on multiple devices and features the AppGallery instead of GooglePlay. It has more than 500 million active users, but lacks important names like Facebook (FB) and WhatsApp, which is not available for direct download.
“The sooner we make the decision to go back to Google, the better,” said Purdy.
Akiko Fujita is an anchor and reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on twitter @AkikoFujita