Huawei have reportedly been developing its own mobile operating system ever since US authorities started investigating ZTE for violating sanctions settlements by illegally shipping goods to Iran. Should Huawei ever face a ban like that, the company allegedly has a backup.
According to a South China Morning Post report, the company is developing its own mobile operating system as an investment for “worst-case scenarios”. The OS is nowhere near Android in terms of the quality as well as app support. Huawei also hasn’t officially released it.
The company later said it has “no plans” whatsoever to launch its proprietary OS in the “foreseeable future” which does indicate that the company neither confirmed nor denied that an OS is being developed. Although, even if there was one, Huawei will have no rush to use it as the company is comfortably shipping phones with its own user EMUI interface powered by Android.
However, in-house operating systems are not new. Samsung also has its own version of it called Tizen OS while Apple has been developing its own macOS on Intel chipsets since forever.
Thanks to its proprietary HiSilicon chipsets, Huawei does have the advantage over others if it is ordered to stop using American intellectual property. Although, losing Google’s services will be a huge setback for a company like Huawei that has been desperately trying to breach the American market. But then, it’s always good to have other options for the occasional rainy day.