Report: Google says Huawei's ban would hurt its monopoly on Android

The Trump administration would likely outline its Huawei export ban as a measure that improves national security by preventing the Chinese pet telecommunications company from entering the US market. According to a Financial Times report, Google's recent discussions with the US government show that Huawei's ban is wrong for national security. Google reportedly asked for an exemption from the export ban.

The argument would be that currently, Huawei depends on Google for the software of its Android smartphone, and that this addiction is a good thing for the United States. According to the Financial Times, "a person who knows the conversations" would have said "that Google, ceasing to deal with Huawei, could create two types of Android operating system: the genuine version and a hybrid version. is likely to contain more bugs than Google and could therefore expose more Huawei phones to piracy, especially from China.

There is currently in China a version of Android other than Google Play, but it is rare that one of these versions differs significantly from an Android version of Google, beyond from the selection of preloaded applications. Chinese manufacturers are still global distributors of smartphones. So they all created Google-approved Android operating systems for the non-Chinese market. What usually happens is that only one operating system goes through Google's test process and then splits into two versions: globally, it gets Google Apps; in China, he gets a selection of applications focused on China.

So, although these Chinese Android OS are still technically Android forks, as they do not come with Google Play, they are not so different from Android, approved by Google. Google's control over the Android ecosystem, even when devices do not use Google applications – means that there is still a certain level of security and possibility of updating in these devices. Google's first argument in this Financial Times report is that safer devices are better for national security.

The second argument of the quote above is that a ban would create two types of Android and would undermine Google's monopoly on Android. If you are a smartphone maker looking for a smartphone operating system, Android is the only game in town. The latest market share figures of the IDC's global operating systems indicate a market share of 86.6 / 13.3% respectively between Android and iOS, with "Others" with a market share 0.0%. Overall, the United States holds the monopoly of the OS on smartphones.

For companies that are not Apple, it's Android or nothing, and Google controls Android, both in terms of the management of the operating system itself and its ecosystem of applications. Removing Huawei from its dependence on Google would theoretically lead the company to create a viable Android operating system, powered by China and controlled by China, which would then be distributed to the rest of the world. Android is free software, nothing prevents anyone from doing it, but Google's control strategy is to create tools and updates that are so effective that nobody wants to compete with them. To cut Huawei from these updates would force this company to create a competitor.

Forbidding Huawei to deal with American companies is certainly a double-edged sword. Huawei would have trouble creating smartphones or an ecosystem of applications without the help of developers of technologies and applications of US origin, but US software and software companies would lose Access to the world's second largest smartphone maker.

In fact, if the export ban is met, the two results obtained are as follows: 1) Huawei can not handle the export ban and stops, as did ZTE, or 2) Huawei weathered the storm and rises like a fully US reconstruction. independent smartphone company. Google's argument fits in with the old adage: "Keep your close friends and your enemies closer".