Huawei is launching a global campaign to reassure us that “Nothing has changed”. A bold claim considering they are a victim of the US-China trade war and the reality is that most of what is going on it out of their control.
It’s not Huawei’s fault they’re in this position, they’re just the high profile victim of a larger battle between the US and China. Walter Ji, President of Huawei Consumer Business Group West Europe acknowledged that there has been some confusion and uncertainty about what will happen to the company’s phones. He explained that Huawei is going to begin an aggressive marketing campaign reassure us that its devices will continue to receive software and security updates in both the short and long-term.
The message they’re going to be hammering home in TV, Radio and digital advertising is:
“Huawei promises that nothing has changed”
We couldn’t help be wonder if it’s all just wishful thinking. If we look at why they’re saying this. In May, Huawei was hit by an executive order from US President Donald Trump which effectively banned it from trading with any American companies.
The restrictions saw Google announce it would limit Huawei’s access to its Android operating system for future devices.
A temporary license has since been issued that enables Google to support and update the Android software currently running on existing Huawei phones, this expires in August.
Ji confirmed today that the phones currently on the market won’t receive the Android Q update since this doesn’t work with Huawei’s internal timelines.
When pressed about how realistic this statement is he commented that “they have to be optimistic about the future”. Which is fair, what alternative does the Smartphone maker have? In my opinion, they’re a necessary casualty of the trade war.
Last week the US reverses its decision to ban American companies from doing business with tech giant Huawei. But is the damage done, irreparable? Huawei clearly doesn’t think so.
Yesterday, I released an episode of She Said, He Said (link to Spotify) in which Michael Josh and I deep dive into the implications of this trade war and try to answer the tough question, Can we can live in a world without Chinese tech? And How does this affect you as a consumer?
Things are a lot more complicated than Huawei makes them out to be. At the end of the day, they’re under fire because they’re making the best smartphones out there while pushing innovation forward in a market that I’d considered stale and predictable.
The eternal optimist in me wants to believe Huawei, but the realist knows that they are a victim of circumstances that are out of their control. What is clear, is that a company that was on a path to global domination in multiple technology sectors is being put a disadvantage. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story?!
So the question remains: Do you believe Huawei’s promise that “Nothing has Changed”? Leave us a comment.
