Huawei vs. USA: What is it about "Everything is okay, keep buying"? - Update 24.06.2019 // 3:30 pm

Dominik Bärlocher

24.6.2019

Translation: machine translated

Huawei clears up ten rumours about the trade war, but forgets to mention the future. Nevertheless, the current line-up is finally clear.

There is global uncertainty after the USA banned cooperation with the Chinese company Huawei in the latest round of the trade war with China. Will the Huawei P30 Pro no longer be updated? What about WhatsApp? And is Honor also affected? This is despite the fact that it has been clear since the beginning of the situation that devices currently available in stores will continue to receive updates and are not affected by the trade war. Everything that comes in the future is still unclear.

Huawei is now trying to clear things up. On a website, the Chinese company sets out to deny or confirm rumours.

Basic: Updates to Android Q are coming

On the index of the page, Huawei confirms what has long been known: Devices will continue to be updated, the bestsellers will even receive the update to the upcoming Android Q. This is probably because the development of a smartphone and software takes longer than a few weeks. As one of Google's active development partners in terms of Android, Huawei is therefore likely to have been involved in Android Q from an early stage. This means that contracts for upgrades, updates and device support were signed months or even years ago. These contracts are allowed to expire. If the legal situation changes and trading with Huawei is permitted again, new contracts can be signed - if Huawei and Google want to.

The first sentence is also exciting: Customers come first. This may sound like platitudinous marketing, but internal sources at Huawei outside of marketing confirm that this is the new direction. "Users should not notice anything. The relationship with the USA is our business," they say. However, sources at Huawei are also keeping quiet about the current legal situation and how it will develop.

The rumour mill in a nutshell

The rest of the site is briefly explained. There are ten rumours listed, with ten answers.

1. All devices that are currently on sale will remain supported as before. In other words: WhatsApp, Instagram and all other apps will remain functional.
2. Functions and support remain the same, even if you reset your device.
3. Updates and upgrades will continue to be provided

10. Huawei Windows devices will continue to work with Windows even after a factory reset.

The only real news in this list is that there are facts about Microsoft's Windows. Until now, Microsoft has kept a low public profile, even though internal sources have long been aware that the software company is in favour of Huawei. The situation is likely to be exactly the same as with smartphones: Current devices are in, the future is still unclear.

"Everything's OK, keep buying" is wrong. Or is it?

With all the coverage surrounding Huawei and Huawei's delayed response, there is one problem: it will do little good. The uncertainty will remain. Even if Huawei and the media keep repeating the above list like a prayer wheel, the answers from China are still very late. They should have come on the day of the sanctions.

The legal situation on which Huawei has based its responses on HuaweiAntwortet.de has been clear since the company was placed on the USA's "Entity List". However, this has not stopped anyone from spreading rumours, stirring up panic or ignoring the facts. In other words: Huawei should have reacted much earlier.

Another mistake in Huawei's communication strategy is that the company is not talking about the future. After all, Huawei's message of "everything is fine, keep buying" is only partially true. Everything is fine with the current line-up, yes, but what will happen from September onwards is still unclear. But one fact remains: Devices currently available in stores will remain supported. There are still many unanswered questions that even Huawei cannot answer.

The current situation in the trade war is as follows:

• Huawei wants to continue working with Android.
• Google wants Huawei to stay.
• Huawei wants to continue working with Microsoft

• Microsoft wants Huawei to stay.
• The Huawei/Google trade relationship will remain in place until the end of August 2019, as an exceptional licence has been granted.
• The USA is clarifying whether a ban on cooperation is even feasible without the USA's infrastructure suffering too much. The keyword here is "5G".

It is understandable that the status of the negotiations cannot or must not be communicated on a daily basis. But a little update every now and then about "things are looking good" or "Läck, it's all going down the drain" would be nice. But perhaps this will come with the company's new communication strategy, which is only just getting underway.

Update 24/06/2019 // 12:00

Huawei has launched a response page for French-speaking Switzerland. It can be found on Huawei's official website.

Update 24/06/2019 // 15:30

A list of devices that will receive Android Q:

• Huawei P30 Pro
• Huawei P30
• Huawei P30 Lite
• Huawei Mate 20
• Huawei Mate 20 Pro
• Huawei Porsche Design Mate 20 RS
• Huawei P Smart 2019
• Huawei P Smart 2019+
• Huawei P Smart Z
• Huawei Mate 20 X
• Huawei Mate 20 X 5G
• Huawei P20 Pro
• Huawei P20
• Huawei P20 Lite
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro
• Huawei Porsche Design Mate 10
• Huawei Mate 10

Dossier trade war USA/China

Dominik Bärlocher

Senior Editor

dominik.baerlocher@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.

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