What will happen to Huawei, career is postponed to release

Huawei who has entered the US Department of Commerce's "Entity List" and whose name has been picked up on a daily basis. In Japan, despite the unsettled development of handsets in Japan, Huawei Japan, its Japanese subsidiary, announced the SIM-free model "P30" and its bargain edition "P30 lite". Both are scheduled for release on May 24. In addition to major electronics retailers and online shops, sales will also begin through major MVNOs.

We released SIM-free P30 and P30 lite Huawei

Besides being a consumer electronics retailer and

being registered with the planned entity list to be sold through MVNO , it becomes difficult to procure US-origin semiconductors and software I will. As for Huawei, the application chip and modem are manufactured in-house, so there is less risk that it will not be able to procure Snapdragon from Qualcomm immediately like other companies, but for Android adopted as OS, Gmail or Google map There are various Google apps such as, YouTube, etc. listed.

In addition to simply listing the app, Android can register a Google account, and Google Play is also available to deliver third-party apps. Android is an open source operating system that can be used even if it receives embargos, but it is quite painful for Huawei that the services embedded in it and Google applications are not available.


Play Play Store and various Google apps are pre-installed on Android. When developing new terminals, there is a risk that they will not be able to procure these

Like China, it may not be a problem in countries that provide without Google services, but it is a matter of life and death in other countries and regions. In fact, when ZTE was embargoed last year, the update server was shut down and security patches were not applied, which greatly affected Japanese terminals. It seems that it was a headache for the carrier who provided ZTE terminals. The latest release is Wi-Fi's Wi-Fi router only, which gives the impression that the lineup has also declined.

On the other hand, there were exceptions to sanctions, and it became clear that 90 days of trading restrictions were exempted from the support of existing terminals. Although Google announced that Huawei's entity list could quickly make Android available with existing products and continue to provide security patches, this statement and grace measures are in line. In other words, at least existing products can be used without problems for a limited time.

According to the US Department of Commerce of the announcement, as the grace period for 90 days, that can be performed procurement related, such as security updates of the terminal

become a problem here is, P30 and P30 lite not yet released in Japan, and even more from DoCoMo A place where "P30 Pro" to be released is an "existing terminal". It has already been released overseas, but it has not been released in Japan, so it was a subtle standing position that could be interpreted either way. However, the P30 series seems to be positioned as an existing terminal as far as hearing the announcement of the Huawei and the comments of Mr. Tonami, who leads the device division of the company in Japan. Even in Japan, it seems to be able to release it safely.


Both P30 and P30 lite have not been released, but have already been released overseas

Mr. Tonami, who appeared on the presentation, objected to the US decision, and announced that it will provide security updates and after-sales support continuously for existing products including P30 and P30 lite. . Mr. Tatsumi's comment is as follows.

"Android is an open source smartphone OS, and we have contributed to the development and growth as an important participant. We will continue to develop a useful ecosystem for users and industries. Huawei and honor (brand) In the case of smartphones and tablets that have already been sold or sold, future security updates and after-sales support will not be affected. ”

 In waves, we promised to continue security updates and after-sales support It's

good news for users who have been attracted by Mr. P30's camera performance and the cost performance of P30 lite, but the situation changes every day, so it can not be predicted. If the above grace period is extended, or if a middle ground can not be found before the end, future updates can not be continued. Also, at the moment there is no mention from Huawei or Google to major updates of the OS, which seems to be shelved.

Each carrier announced one after another the delayed release of the P30 series, but this is also because the situation has not yet been completely seen. At the moment, it may become impossible to support in 3 months, and major updates are also difficult. At the moment, it is difficult to make affirmations from Huawei and Google, and it is difficult to determine the scope of the impact, so it is true that we postponed the release date.

Furthermore, it is also unknown how the Mate series, which was announced in the fall every year, and the P series from next year onward will happen. Even as Huawei, the business becomes tough with existing terminals only, so some measures need to be taken. It is unclear whether it is ahead or politically settled, but this situation continues to be less favorable for the entire ecosystem surrounding the smartphone.

Huawei, which surpasses Apple and has become the world's second-largest company, has a large supply of parts. We also purchase materials equivalent to ¥ 670 billion a year (2018) from Japanese companies, which will have a huge impact if we can not release new devices. In the meantime, some companies will be forced to make a major downward revision to their business performance. Not only Japan, but also the United States has a source of supply, and as Mr. Liu stated, it is inevitable that "a huge loss to the American society".

 Only manufacturers with a large global market share and influence are likely to have serious impact on the supply chain

. There is also concern about the adverse impact on the Android ecosystem. According to Mr. Tatsuo's comments, Huawei has made various contributions to Android. When we interviewed Mr. King Seikaru, President of Software Engineering Division, who leads the company's software development in Shenzhen, China last November, various file systems, navigation bars, power saving functions, PC modes, etc. It is said that various features have been incorporated into Android.

Naturally, if the total sales decline, this is also negative for the Android ecosystem expansion. This is likely to be the background behind Google's earlier statement.

In addition, I would like to emphasize that the user's choice is reduced. Especially for P30 and P30 Pro, their camera functions are highly evaluated, and at DxOMark, which is an evaluation agency of camera image quality, P30 Pro records top scores along with Samsung's "Galaxy S10 5G", and is also the best Three out of five are occupied by Huawei terminals. If there are no more terminals available in the future, it is frankly nothing more than a loss for the user.


The high camera performance is a

political tone that has been evaluated in various situations against the anti-faail sanctions of this time, but of course it is a pity that the industry as well as the users are adversely affected. . I want to keep an eye on future developments.