‘HUAWEI BAN WILL HURT USERS MORE THAN DEVELOPERS’
Buyers to lose out as apps, updates and security patches will not be available, say experts
TECH experts believe that Google’s termination of its Android agreement with Chinese tech giant Huawei will affect users more than Android app developers.
They believe that despite Huawei already having its own alternative operating system, it will take time before the market fully embraces it.
Caspian Technology founder and app guru Abang Caspian Abang Thairani said the United States’ restrictions would not affect Android app developers, but more the users.
“The US restrictions means that new Huawei phones will no longer be able to access certain apps, such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube, and existing banned phones will not be able to update their Android operating systems.
“Users who use these apps will be affected by the move,” said Abang Caspian, who has 4,000 Android developers under him.
There are some 40,000 Android app developers in Malaysia.
He said the app developers could still develop new apps for Android, but they may not be able to deploy the apps to Huawei or other banned smartphone brands in the future.
Abang Caspian said even if Huawei comes out with its own operating system (OS) now, known as “HongMeng”, the developers might not have the necessary app development tools to develop apps for the market outside of China.
This will also restrict the new apps from users.
Another technopreneur and app developer, Adrian Wong, says existing Malaysian Huawei users will be at the losing end as updates to their next Android OS and security patches won’t be available.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) said it had yet to obtain any insight on the impact on the Malaysian market.
MDEC chief executive officer, Surina Shukri said it remains committed to transforming Malaysia into a digital-led economy and this would be achieved by building infrastructures to drive Malaysian industry to global and regional stature.
“MDEC continues to support all industry players, local and international, by ensuring that we create a vibrant digital economy ecosystem.
“In reference to the recent development on Google-Huawei, no further updates have been given on the impact-to-markets by any of the involved parties. We will share more information as soon as we can on potential implications for Malaysia,” she said.
Local telecommunications company TM, meanwhile, said it is unable to comment on whether the restrictions would potentially affect the rollout of new technologies in the near term such as 5G as it does not have sufficient information about Huawei’s supplier ecosystem and how dependent they are on US suppliers.
“We will continue to monitor the development of the situation and will take pro-active actions as and when required,” said the company.
Maxis, meanwhile, said the ban would have no impact on its product offerings.
Huawei, in a statement, assured its customers that its “existing products would not be affected and customers could continue to use its services as usual”.