Company plays down impact of United States ban

Jun 11, 2019 08:53 GMT  ·  By

One of the effects of the Huawei ban announced by the United States government in mid-May is that the Chinese tech company can no longer install apps developed by American companies on its devices.

And these include not only operating systems like Android and Windows, but also other apps developed by Facebook, like the social network app, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Facebook recently confirmed that it would comply with the US government order, suggesting it would indeed forbid Huawei from installing its apps on new devices.

“We are reviewing the Commerce Department’s final rule and the more recently issued temporary general license and [are] taking steps to ensure compliance,” the social network said.

However, Huawei says this won’t happen.

According to the government ban, Huawei can continue offer software developed by American companies on devices that are already on the market, but on the other hand, it’s not allowed to use it on new models.

Huawei’s app store

However, the Chinese firm says this apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram will work just fine even on the new smartphones that it’ll launch in the coming months.

In a statement for AA, Huawei explains that what it wants “is to ensure consumers know that this has no impact on existing devices, and future devices will still be able to download, install, and use Facebook apps without any issue on Huawei devices.”

In an attempt to survive without American products, including here Android, Huawei is developing its own operating system that would also support apps developed for Google’s operating system. Huawei is investing hard in an app store to replace Google Play Store, and there’s a chance the company is betting big on this alternative to continue offering apps like Facebook and WhatsApp even on new devices.

The new OS is projected to be finalized this year in China and in 2020 for international markets.