The Chinese tech giant Huawei has been facing troubles from USA since the US trade ban came into effect in May and Huawei has been unable to purchase American parts and software. According to the United States, Huawei’s telecom network gear and other products are allegedly assisting espionage, a claim that Huawei has denied.
Now Facebook Inc has taken the decision to disallow pre-installation of its apps on new Huawei smartphones. New Huawei phones will no longer have Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp pre-installed. Moreover, any Huawei phone that has not yet been shipped will come under the Facebook ban.
This decision by Facebook Inc will put Huawei Technologies Co Ltd into further crisis because their smartphone business in Europe and Asia had been the biggest revenue generator in 2018.
Huawei has declined to comment on this matter.
Alphabet Inc’s Google, too, has decided to no longer provide Android software for Huawei phones after the expiration of the US-government that granted 90-days reprieve in August 2019.
Huawei has vowed to work around the disruptions posed by the US trade ban but customer behavior in Europe and Asia have indicated a reluctance to buy Huawei phones in such circumstances. This has made analysts state that Huawei smartphone sales will undergo a steep decline.
Customers with Huawei phones which have Facebook’s apps pre-installed will be able to use them and update them. Google apps and Playstore will also be available for the existing models of Huawei phones including those phones that have not yet been shipped or manufactured.
Buyers of new Huawei phones which don’t have Facebook pre-installed can download it from the Google Play store, but when even Google and its apps stop being available to Huawei, then nothing can be done unless the US ban is modified.
As of now, Facebook has declined to comment on when the suspension would come into effect.
