Google Cuts Off Huawei From Android Updates and Play Store
Google immediately suspends business with Huawei, stripping future smartphones of Android updates, Gmail, and the Play Store due to US blacklisting. Huawei retains access only to the open source version of the operating system.
Google suspends all business with Huawei that involves the transfer of hardware and software products, dealing a massive blow to the Chinese tech giant. This immediate halt means Huawei loses access to future Android operating system updates. The decision follows recent actions by the United States government to blacklist Huawei globally.
Future Huawei smartphones sold outside of China face severe limitations because they no longer have access to popular Google applications and services. Customers who buy these devices miss out on the Google Play Store and the Gmail app. Without these core features, Huawei faces a major struggle to sell its phones in international markets.
Huawei still uses the public, open source version of Android because it remains freely available to anyone. However, Google completely stops providing technical support and collaboration for Android and Google services to the company. This isolation forces Huawei to rely entirely on its own resources to maintain and develop its smartphone software moving forward.