IFA 2019 | Huawei Mate 30 and Mate X to ship without Google apps, P40 series could launch with HarmonyOS in 2020

Huawei's upcoming Mate 30 series is all set to grab the headlines for two primary reasons — one, it will be first Kirin 990 powered smartphone and two, it will ship without any Google apps or services pre-installed. The foldable Mate X will also be foregoing pre-installed Google apps when it finally starts shipping by October. The US Government did not extend a partial reprieve to the Chinese smartphone major against the latter's blacklisting following security concerns. 

The Trump administration does not seem to be willing to give Huawei any sort of reprieve and apparently has no plans of discussing this during the trade talks with China in October. President Trump has said,

We are not doing business with Huawei. It'll stop almost completely in a very short period of time."

Analysts estimate that not having Google apps pre-installed could result in drop of more of 10 million Huawei smartphone sales this year. While Android itself is open-source, Google Mobile Services (GMS) that include the Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, etc. are not. The ban will not affect the units sold in China as they have their own app store but will surely affect overseas shipments. 

So, what will be the fate of the Mate 30? We'll have to wait till September 19 to find out Huawei's plans. Speaking on the sidelines of the Kirin 990 launch, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu said that current products will continue to use Android and although the upcoming Mate 30 will not ship with GMS, users can still install them on their own if needed.

Those used to installing custom ROMs such as Lineage OS will be familiar with installing packages such as Open GApps to get access to Google services. A similar workaround might be needed for the Mate 30 as well. 

Huawei also seems to have a Plan B in place. Speaking to Der Spiegel, Yu said,

For current products, we will stay with Android. If the restrictions remain with us, we will use our own HarmonyOS for future products. For example, the P40, which is planned for spring 2020."

HongmengOS (or HarmonyOS for the rest of the world) is Huawei's own OS that supports most development workflows including Kotlin, Java, Javascript, C, and C++ with native support for installing HTML5, Linux, and Android apps. Huawei feels that porting to HarmonyOS shouldn't be difficult and is said to be working with app developers to create a viable app ecosystem.