US Department of Commerce provided a temporary license to Huawei for three months. Now the Chinese company will be able to keep sending software updates to its consumers for next three months after receiving a temporary license from the US commerce department. The existing license is due to expire on August 19th. The temporary license, effective from today, allows Huawei to take necessary actions to provide service and support, or software updates, security patches to its existing Huawei handsets that people are already using before May 16, 2019. The license will also allow Huawei to receive any security patches or maintain network equipment.

Last week, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to deal with Chinese technologies growth. This allowed the Secretary of Commerce to block all transactions with China considering it as a national security risk. Soon after the Trump administration blacklist Huawei, Google announced its cut-off with the company as it would be illegal for any company to work with the Chinese telecom giant without written permission from the U.S govt.

Google has announced that it would no long provide Android services for Huawei, although it is said that the company can continue to use the open source version of the OS. The Chinese market wouldn't have a great impact as they are already using the limited version of OS. This move, however, will have negative impact on Huawei's international sales numbers. The temporary general license will allow the company and the department to take the required actions for the customers in America and worldwide who are currently using Huawei devices. After this act, people are assuming that Chinese Govt. will surrender to Trump trade deal with China but only time will tell as the rumors suggest that Huawei has already start working on its own Operating system.

Google has decided to suspend its license to Android operating system to Huawei. Trump administration's action has started to impact Chinese smartphone makers Huawei already. Google has decided to stop licensing its Android OS to Chinese Telecommunication Company, in order to comply with U.S trade blacklist rules. The company however can continue to use open-source version of Android but won't be able to get the security and OS updates, along with usage restrictions on Google's apps like Gmail, Play store etc.

The move will have significant effect on millions of Huawei users and the company's global ambitions. Android operating system powers more than 80% of the world's smartphones. Huawei said they will continue to support existing customers. But if this problem isn't solved, the device will not have access to new version of Android OS called Q. "The revocation of its Android license will mean that it won't be able to provide core Google services to its smartphones," Richardson said.

"The current devices will continue to support Google services and Google updates," Francisco Jeronimo, associate vice president for European devices at IDC, told CNBC by telephone. "I think it's more of a long-term impact than very short term." In China, the story is a different. Consumers there have a limited version of the OS which doesn't come with the pre-installed Google's app like Gmail etc. For Chinese consumers, the impact is almost NILL. Many people suggest that U.S and China will reach a trade deal, and Google will resume its licensing to Huawei. In that case, things will come back to normal. However, if it is a long-term impact, the sales of Huawei will drop as well as its resale value. There won't be any consumers outside the Chinese if this situation continues.

According to the new data from IDC Huawei's smartphone sale increased 50% in the first quarter as compared to the same time line last year. Apple's shipment dropped 30% while Samsung's fell to 8%. Apple and Samsung seems to face a setback in China whereas the Chinese tech giant is showing its statistics with proud. The new figures show Huawei is actually holding the 19% share of the global smartphone industry right now, which is its highest percentage ever. IDC said that the Chinese firm is ready to take the lead as the world's second-largest smartphone seller.

Huawei has already surpassed Apple in 2018, but the first quarter of 2019 is even more optimistic for the company. Apple's sales have been hit by weak demand in China and longer replacement cycles. Apple's CEO Tim Cook expected better results in Chinese market, but the company still reported a 22% drop in revenues in the region for its first quarter 2019. Huawei's consumer business has shown impressive growth over a few years, especially in its premium flagship smartphone area, despite being under fire globally from a US-led campaign against the company.

Huawei dominated the Chinese smartphone market in the first three months, taking a record 34% share as other rivals Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Apple all seem to struggle to get the grounds. The company alone, sold around 30 million phones in the first quarter whereas Apple managed to sale only 6.5 million phones. Apple reported 17% drop in the sale globally as compared to the last year's sale, facing the largest single-quarter decline in the history of the iPhone. In China, Huawei is only getting stronger. The company has opened more brick-and-mortar locations, pushed into rural areas and managed to attract new consumers with its smart devices and accessories.

Unlike Apple, Huawei and other Chinese smartphone makers also have a wide range of low to high-end models, so they can appeal to more cost-conscious buyers. Globally, Huawei seems to be in the position to overtake Samsung as the world's largest smartphone manufactuer in near future.

In the face of numerous controversies Huawei says it has developed its own proprietary PC and mobile operating systems. The Chinese company, the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer, says the platforms are a contingency in case it is banned from developing on Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows platforms.

Certainly, trying to create a third mobile ecosystem is potentially a path to disaster. Yes, Huawei has huge resources and a loyal consumer base, but efforts from other companies to rival Android and iOS have failed.

Microsoft's Windows Phone was the third OS on the market but completely collapsed two years ago as Android's lead continued to grow. BlackBerry run its own platform for years but failed to keep pace in the smartphone era and now develops devices on Android.

Even Samsung, the world's largest smartphone manufacturer, has struggled to get its TizenOS off the ground. In fact, when I tested a Tizen powered handset the OS was so sluggish that even simply web browsing looking for a Borgata bonus code was a hassle. Huawei has had its own software problems in the past, with its proprietary Android services often criticized by users. The company may have a backup OS in place, but Huawei will be hoping it can continue to be part of Android's success.

Huawei's Problem

Huawei has been caught up in the political tensions between the United States and China, with authorities in the U.S. accusing the company of spying on users for the Chinese government. Whether a ban on Huawei dealing with US companies is possible or not, the company is taking no chances.

Learning from history, Huawei is planning contingencies. Last year, Chinese rival ZTE was banned from working with US companies for violating US trade sanctions against Iran and closed down for four months. Huawei has denied any spying activity, but tensions continue to rise, and many nations have questioned using the company's 5G technology.

If banned from working with U.S. firms, Huawei would be in a tight position. The smartphone software market is dominated by Google and Apple, with the former's Android taking over 75% of the market. In other words, Huawei would have nowhere to go so has taken preventative measures by creating its own OS.

Richard Yu Chengdong, Huawei's mobile chief, told the South China Morning Post the company is prepared for any restrictions:

"We have prepared our own operating system, if it turns out we can no longer use these systems [Android], we will be ready and have our plan B," Yu said. The company has created a PC and mobile platform but stressed it would prefer to continue working with Android and Windows. 

We know that the year 2019 is going to be big for foldable smartphones and we have already done a piece on that, but the real question is, will you buy a foldable smartphone? Is it so much better at watching media, browsing the internet or even playing 3D slots online? Sure, they offer a bigger screen without compromising too much on the portability factor, but given the high price and the added heft, would it really matter to the real world user?

The Huawei Mate X is expected to be priced at roughly $2600, while the Galaxy Fold will cost nearly $2000. Other smartphone manufacturers have not yet confirmed the price tags for their respective foldable models, but they are not going to be much cheaper and that much is for sure. However, Xiaomi might just change the game here too, like it so often has with ridiculously aggressive pricing.

The Xiaomi Mi Flex or Dual Flex will probably be the cheapest foldable smartphone of the lot and it could even be the most impressive, given its double fold design. Even then, it is going to be far more expensive than any of Xiaomi's other models and that leads us to the question once again, is all that extra money worth it? I mean you can get a brand new 65" LG OLED TV or the latest 65" Samsung QLED TV at the same price and sometimes even for less than that! The comparison in between the two may seem absurd but given that a smart TV is a much better and bigger machine for media consumption than a foldable tablet, and it usually lasts at least 5 - 8 years, if not more, should you really pay $2600 for a smartphone that will become completely outdated in two years time? Is portability worth that much to you? Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Saikat Kar