A major roadblock has presented itself in front of Huawei, as the Mate 30 won't be able to launch with Google apps and services. This is still due to the banning of companies in the US from doing business with the Chinese tech giant.
The Huawei Mate 30, and presumably, the next generation of devices from the company, could launch with very limited features. They will still run on Android, but Google confirmed that the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro will come without all of Google's apps and services, which is likely disadvantageous to Huawei.
Back in May, Huawei was granted by the United States Commerce Department an extension of three months to allow the company to take steps "necessary to provide service and support, including software updates or patches, to existing Huawei handsets that were available to the public on or before May 16, 2019."
Last week, another extension had been granted, this time for 90 days and is set to end on Nov. 19, but that only applies to previously released devices. This means that the Mate 30 is excluded from the bill and won't be a part of the exemption.
Google's many apps and services, including the widely-used Google Play Store, are considered an integral part of Android as an OS. It's been this way for many years that Google, at one point, was fined $5 billion by the European Union last year, accused of using Play Store access as a way to force Android phone makers to resort to Google search on their devices.
But perhaps there's still hope for Huawei, as an Android phone without Google services can work, such as in the case of Amazon's incredibly affordable Fire tablets. However, Amazon's tablets can't be properly compared to the Mate 30, given the upcoming device is purported to compete to more high-end devices like One Plus 7 Pro, Pixel 4, and the Galaxy Note 10 Plus.
And while Chinese phone makers have technically dealt going without Play Store - since Google is prohibited from the country - it is, undeniably, chaotic.
Since 2018, Huawei has been hard at work working on its own Play Store alternative, which had been the company's back up plan in case something like this happens - and it did. And though there's a contingency, the US ban still came quite unexpectedly, and Huawei has a lot to face ahead.
The company will continue developing its in-house OS, Harmony, and will switch to it if it's cut off from Google's Android services.
