Towards the end of 2020, Huawei sold off its Honor subsidiary in a bid to save its business and avoid the trade ban implications that the parent company was subject to. It looks like that plan is going on the right track as Honor has finally confirmed that it is in talks with Google and should be able to resume offering GMS on its future smartphones.
Starting mid-2019, the Trump administration continued to tighten the sanctions put on Huawei Consumer Business Group, eventually leaving it without the ability to trade with companies such as Qualcomm, Intel, MediaTek, Microsoft, AMD and others. The biggest blow came with the loss of Google, making its smartphones unusable in global markets without the Play Store or Media Services.
When Honor eventually split, it was hopeful that the Huawei Ban would no longer affect it. Last week, we finally got the confirmation that it will resume trade with key chipset and component partners from the U.S., and today, it finally broke its silence on Google.
In an interview with South China Morning Post, Honor CEO George Zhao said that they were in talks with Google and expects to resume the partnership in the near future. Without Google services, Honor (and Huawei) smartphones succumbed to the competition in overseas markets, leaving its business primarily concentrated to its homecountry.
Talking about future plans, he said that Honor will aim to compete with the likes of Apple and its former parent with high-end flagship phones. He recalls how Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei hoped Honor would “be the strongest competitor of Huawei in the world, surpass Huawei, and even use defeating Huawei as your motivation.”
The Honor View 40 from earlier this month was a major milestone for the company, as it launched its first smartphone after splitting from Huawei. While there is no confirmation on when a Google-powered Honor phone will return to the other markets, speculation suggests that the View 40 will claim that crown when it goes global later this summer.
- Honor View 40 is official, and it's the first Honor phone since it was sold by Huawei
- Huawei to sell the Honor brand: here's what that could mean for your next phone
- Ather 450X: everything you need to know before buying
