Huawei's Windows and Android alternative could be ready before the end of the year

Huawei’s issues with the US Government has been rumbling for some time now, and we heard in March already that the company was working on an alternative to Microsoft Windows and Android.

Then Huawei executive Richard Yu said:

“We have prepared our own operating system. Should it ever happen that we can no longer use these systems, we would be prepared.”

Today Yu told CNBC that they could be ready to start rolling out these alternatives as soon as Q4 219 in China.

“Today, Huawei, we are still committed to Microsoft Windows and Google Android. But if we cannot use that, Huawei will prepare the plan B to use our own OS,” Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business, told CNBC on Thursday.

An international version could follow in Q1 or Q2 2020. Huawei aims to address the app issue by using its App Gallery, which already ships on its handsets alongside the Google Play Store.

Yu, however, stresses that this is not their preferred solution.

“We don’t want to do this but we will forced to do that because of the U.S. government. I think the U.S., this kind of thing, will also not only be bad news for us, but also bad news for the U.S. companies because we support the U.S. business, so we will be forced to do this on our own,” Yu said. “We don’t want to do this but we have no other solution, no other choice.”

Given the increasing momentum around companies around the world distancing themselves from Huawei products, it is, however, difficult to see how the company could release future viable products, even in China, as foundational companies like Intel and ARM also withdraw from business relationships.