Huawei-US Ban Extends: Another Year Of Huawei Devices Without Google Apps

Huawei will have to wait for another whole year before it can do business with Google and several other US companies.

US President Donald Trump has extended an executive order that bars US companies from working or buying telecom equipment from international companies that pose a “threat to national security.”

While the order doesn’t name a particular entity, it’s a direct hit at companies like Huawei and ZTE, who have been previously deemed a security threat.

The US president signed the first such order back in May last year. It argued that China-based Huawei could force companies to install backdoors for spying on America. A month earlier, Vodafone Italy discovered hidden backdoors in Huawei’s equipment.

Huawei supplying equipment for network infrastructure was also seen as a big security risk. While there was no evidence of a potential data leak through networks, the US lawmakers’ fear of China spying got the better of them. As for stripping Hauwei of Android license, it was more of a repercussion of trade wars between the US and China.

Nevertheless, the matter of fact is people planning to buy new Huawei phones should know that the support for Google Play services isn’t coming anytime soon.

The extension of the executive order does not affect the current hardware. Huawei has been getting temporary general licenses that allow it to run Google and get the latest Android updates. But that too is about to expire tomorrow.

We are unsure whether Huawei will receive another extension from the US Commerce Department.