Huawei may launch its next flagship smartphone next month without being able to offer Google’s official Android operating system and apps, company executives told Reuters. The company is set to unveil its new Mate 30 line of phones on 18 September in Munich, a source familiar with the matter said.
The 5G device is Huawei’s first major phone launch since the US government effectively blacklisted the company in mid-May, alleging it is involved in activities that compromise US national security, a charge the company denies.
A Google spokesman told Reuters the Mate 30 cannot be sold with licensed Google apps and services due to the US ban on sales to Huawei. A temporary reprieve that the US government announced last week does not apply to new products such as the Mate 30, the spokesman said.
American companies can seek a licence for specific products to be exempted from the ban. Google would not say whether it had applied for a licence to offer its apps and services to Huawei, though it has said in the past that it wants to continue supplying Huawei.
Reuters reported earlier that the US Commerce Department has received more than 130 applications from companies for licences to sell US goods to Huawei, but none have been granted to date.
