The Google-Huawei clash

The clash between Google and Huawei has assumed centrestage in the US-China ‘trade’ skirmish. This clash, between a software titan and a hardware giant, could impact the digital revolution unfolding in India and other low-income countries. Even though Google has temporarily suspended its plan to revoke Huawei’s licence to use its Android operating system and the applications store, the wrangle is set to escalate further. This can imperil the very growth and expansion of mobile computing the world over. The issue has to be sorted out as soon as possible either via company-level discussions or through diplomatic channels, in the best interests of all stakeholders. Google claims its move was in compliance with the US Commerce Department’s decision to blacklist the Chinese gadget maker citing national security threats. Technically speaking, Huawei, which shipped more than 200 million phones loaded with Android last year, can use the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which any gadget maker can use; however, from August 19, when Google will finally revoke Huawei’s licence, Huawei will not be able to use marquee Google services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Play Store and Google Docs. These are very essential units of any Android phone today, and are being used by millions of users. And there’s more pain in store for Huawei, with US-based technology majors such as Qualcomm and Intel contemplating restricting use of their products on Chinese phones.

The Google challenge has hit Huawei at a time when the device maker is selling more phones than ever. Technology consultancy IDC notes in Q1 2019 Huawei shipped 59.1 million phones against 39.3 million in Q1 2018. While Chinese smartphones have seen brisk sales across the world, more than 90 per cent of the smartphones today run on Android OS. In India, Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is one of the fastest growing brands which aims to grab 20 per cent the smartphone market share by 2020. By curbing access to its operating systems for smartphones, Google could impact low-income geographies such as India and Africa, in the midst of a smartphone revolution. If the tussle envelops Chinese gadget makers such as Xiaomi, which is the largest selling Android gadget maker in India, or for that matter impacts Samsung (with its history of run-ins with Apple), the entire gadget universe will be rocked. Although Huawei claims it is readying an alternative to Android, this is unlikely to emerge as a viable alternative in the near future, particularly with the US government’s hardening stance.

As an economy that has benefited significantly from the idea of the free market by creating products and sending them to all geographies at will — even as there were allegations of espionage with respect to many of its products — the US must allow China similar levels of global engagement. China too needs to sort out the intellectual property aspects of its tussle with the US.

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