Huawei Mate 30 forced to launch its first new smartphone lacking U.S. technology and this means selling devices without any of the Google software and services its millions of consumers outside China now expect.
With all the uncertainty swirling around, the September 19 launch of the Mate 30 Series, powered by the new Kirin 990 5G chipset, will be watched more closely than ever.
Europe was always going to be the hardest market for Huawei to shore up if it is not able to provide a seamless user experience with its next devicesstarting with the Mate 30 Series. The expectation is that European consumers are more tied to the full Android experience than Huawei’s devices.
According to LetsGoDigital, Huawei has shifted its plans for the Mate 30 Series launch and will withhold its new devices from the European market until it has a solution.
The Dutch website cites a Huawei insider claiming that “the Huawei Mate 30 will not be available in ‘Central Europe’.This applies to the entire Mate 30 series, including the Lite and Pro models. Huawei realizes that launching an expensive high-end smartphone without Google apps in Europe is practically useless.”
It is still possible that a Huawei “workaround” enabling Google’s apps and services to be installed, as promised by the company’s consumer head Richard Yu, will be announced even if it comes with a staggered launch date.
If the company can deliver easy to use and secure shortcuts to after-market installs of Google’s software and services, then it will look to maintain some hold on its European core.
As speculation mounts, the level of confidence within Huawei was described to me by a company insider as “shockingly high.” Pretty soon we’ll see what if anything is behind that.