Huawei reportedly wants to keep using Google’s Android operating system in its phones instead of jumping to its self-developed Hongmeng system. Senior Vice President Catherine Chen told reporters in Brussels yesterday that Hongmeng is not designed for smartphones and that Huawei plans to continue using Android, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports.
Chen apparently said Hongmeng is for industrial use, noting that it contains far fewer lines of code than a phone OS, and has much lower latency than a phone, meaning it can process a very high volume of data messages with little delay. Company chairman Liang Hua said last week that Hongmeng was mainly developed for internet of things (IoT) devices, according to TechNode, and Huawei hasn’t decided if it’ll be applied as a phone OS.
That’s a shift from Huawei’s previous messaging, which has suggested that the company was prepared to make a switch. “Huawei is in the process of potentially launching a replacement,” communications VP Andrew Williamson told Reuters in June, adding that it’d be ready “in months” in the event of an Android blacklisting. “It’s not something Huawei wants. We’re very happy being part of the Android family, but Hongmeng is being tested, mostly in China.” Consumer division CEO Richard Yu also said earlier this year that Huawei would be ready to use its alternatives.
Whether Huawei will be able to keep on using Android remains unclear. President Trump did appear to be softening his stance on the company late last month, and while it is still blacklisted, it appears the Commerce Department is willing to grant more US companies licenses to do business with the firm.
