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Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

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Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#41

And this is the danger of having so much power concentrated in a single country. Google might not want to do this, but they might need to, because they are a US company. Unfortunately this affects everyone. Why should Europeans care about US’s trade wars? And don’t get me wrong, I would never buy Huawei devices because they are made by a company owned by a communist party, but that’s my choice to make, not that of so…

The fundamental issues surrounding China 2025 which has prompted a shift in trade posture between the United States and China affect every other developed manufacturing nation in the world. Including Germany and the rest of the EU Nations. Just because the EU has not gotten publicly involved does not mean that they are not involved privatively in negotiations. Europe along with Japan, Korea etc have the luxury to sta…

> The fundamental issues surrounding China 2025

What are those issues? Why is the goal of advancing your local industries frown upon?

Why is the US in the business of telling sovereign countries what they should produce, buy or sell?

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#42
post #38
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

I'd actually love to jump on a quality phone that's not using the Google ecosystem. Except that I'm not so sure the Huawei ecosystem is less evil.

That's why Huawei would probably benefit from using an independent ecosystem, together with Samsung, Sony, etc. They could set it up in Singapore or Hong Kong to avoid political issues and share the profits. At the same time you get US-critics to buy those phones instead of Google or Apple controlled ones.

Not sure though how inclined the other manufacturers are to work with each other.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#43
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

I tried the Samsung app store briefly on my Android. I didn't last long with it, it was not that great, and reluctantly intstalled Google Play. It's yet another company trying to usher me into signing up, and trading my data privacy. The themes app for example, wants access to my contacts. Why?

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#44
post #18
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

I could go one step further: Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android. Many Chinese companies already tried it (non-open source though) before but been persuaded not to, I guess they're feeling a little bit different now. The good part is, by building that OS, the domestic tech communities could receive a huge boost. So far for Huawei, Google's blockage is partly useless. As long as Huawe…

> As long as Huawei can sell device globally, they can just build their devices in such way that allowing their users to load custom ROM into it without effect warranty

The number of people who will buy a device without Android just to sideload Android on to it is absolutely miniscule. My girlfriend and parents (who all have Huawei devices) absolutely would not.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#45
post #9
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

I don't think it is in Samsung's or Sony's interest.

Why not? They also built on Android to have one common ecosystem with all the benefits of scale. If Huawei now builds their own App Store, Samsung risks losing customers in countries where Huawei already dominates. Building one together would at least keep the status quo.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#46
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

Most Chinese versions of Android are completely de-Googled[1]- no Play store, no Maps, no GMail, etc. They have their own app store, web browser, and everything else. They are still based on Android, but it's not a stretch to think that most Chinese phone manufacturers could fork the open source project tomorrow. As soon as Google goes too far against the Chinese government, the manufacturers will receive a notice th…

In the end, the only superior system Google offers outside of China is Search (and to some degree Mail). Search can be integrated without the need of an app and GMail can be accessed by any mail client. All the other money making products (Maps, Play Store, Pay) could probably be replaced without users complaining much.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#47
post #5

They don't seem to be doing a very good job of communicating whether this is voluntary or mandated by the trade sanctions. It would seem to be terribly damaging to Google and Android if they can't convince OEMs that this is something extraordinary that no other OEM will need to worry about.

According to the article they think this is mandatory but they are still reviewing it.

Which would mean that it could hit any Chinese company within days and companies from other nations within weeks/months. I doubt the US government will put a ban on South Korean manufacturers but I'm not sure if Samsung wants to take that risk.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#48
post #19
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is in Samsung's or Sony's interest.

so? China alone is a bigger market for smartphones, than EU + US together.

The US is by far the most lucrative smartphone market. It's not even close.

Most of the smartphone buyers in China are purchasing phones that the manufacturer makes effectively zero net profit on.

When it comes to phones, Apple earns more in profit than every other competitor globally combined. Apple gets half its enormous profit just from the US market. Apple can afford to lose the entire Chinese market thanks to that fact (then they'd only generate a mere $45b in profit and would still be the world's most profitable company).

For another example, while Google is printing massive profit via mobile search thanks to its Android position in the US and Europe, Baidu is losing money in China and has never been able to expand globally (and never will, they're largely hostage to the Chinese market).

If you're Apple or Google and you can only choose one market to participate in, you choose the US. It's where all the margin is, because US consumers provide the largest-wealthiest market by far. Samsung also still actually sells phones in the US, whereas their market share has been entirely wiped out in China due to nationalism and poor Chinese consumers being unable to afford most of Samsung's phones.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#49
post #18
post #7

So how long will it take until Asian Phone companies using Android get together to develop an alternative Android ecosystem? They could set it up in a neutral nation with profits going to all companies. So far, these always failed because it was only one company involved (e.g. Amazons app store) but will all major manufacturers involved, it would be much more profitable for developers to be on that app store than on…

I could go one step further: Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android. Many Chinese companies already tried it (non-open source though) before but been persuaded not to, I guess they're feeling a little bit different now. The good part is, by building that OS, the domestic tech communities could receive a huge boost. So far for Huawei, Google's blockage is partly useless. As long as Huawe…

"Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android."

It's not as easy as it may sound like.

There have been attempts:

https://sailfishos.org/wiki/Android_Compatibility

https://github.com/anbox/anbox

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/new-project-brings-andro...

ChromeOS Android container approach is probably the best, but isn't fully open source to my knowledge.

That's not to say that a state actor like China couldn't pull it off. It would actually be quite interesting if the outcome of these developments was significant effort into a Linux distro that runs well on multiple devices, and is capable of also running Android apps seamlessly.

Re: Google confirms Play store will continue to function for existing Huawei phones

#50

And this is the danger of having so much power concentrated in a single country. Google might not want to do this, but they might need to, because they are a US company. Unfortunately this affects everyone. Why should Europeans care about US’s trade wars? And don’t get me wrong, I would never buy Huawei devices because they are made by a company owned by a communist party, but that’s my choice to make, not that of so…

Huawei is not owned by a communist party. Even google will tell you that much..
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