Huawei has the same app problem that doomed Windows Phone

Huawei is now the world’s largest smartphone maker in terms of shipments, according to Canalys data, suggesting that the Chinese tech company outperformed its rival Samsung in the second quarter of 2020, though mainly due to its domestic sales in China. . This is the first time in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple has led the market.

Huawei hastened to jump on the news, particularly given the turbulent 14 months it has endured since the US issued an embargo that forced it to stop using Google’s flavor of Android on its new phones. But despite Huawei’s joy at overtaking Samsung, its global smartphone future looks bleak, due in large part to app restrictions imposed by the U.S. ban. The crux of Huawei’s problem, as most people already know, is that buyers of its newest phones can’t access many big-name apps without having to jump through giant hoops. In many ways, Huawei’s situation is similar to what Windows Phone faced a decade ago.

Like Windows Phone

At the time of its launch, Microsoft’s mobile operating system was often packed with some of the best hardware the market had to offer, and Nokia devices in particular offered excellent cameras. But Windows Phone simply couldn’t get rid of the “app shortage” tag on its neck, although Microsoft spent considerable resources convincing developers to build for Windows Phone, even holding developer contests. In the end, Microsoft managed to persuade some companies to create for its platform, but the apps often didn’t have all the features that their iOS and Android counterparts did, and a good chunk of them were rarely updated.

Similarly, Huawei devices are widely praised for features like AI chips and quality cameras. And the company is also trying to incentivize developers to join its platform, recently launching a $ 1 million contest that is based on its $ 1 billion Shining Star developer program.

In approximately the year since the US embargo took effect, Huawei has doubled its development of Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), its own version of Google Mobile Services (GMS) designed to replace the Google ecosystem and provide developers with tools to create applications for the Huawei platform. At a press conference earlier this week, Jaime Gonzalo, vice president of Mobile Services Europe for Huawei’s consumer business group, touted the progress the company has made in the past year, revealing that it now has 1.6 million developers to on board, an increase of 76% per year. -annually, and more than 80,000 applications that now use HMS elements.

But such growth metrics aren’t really important to most people. All they care about is whether they can easily access all the tools and services they want, something Huawei has tried to address.

“Actually, there are 3 million applications, so this [81,000 apps] it’s less, ”said Gonzalo. “[But] The point is, it’s not about the volume of apps, it’s about the relevance and the services they provide. So we evaluate our users, how many applications they use on their phones, and we discover that no matter in which country, the average number of applications is approximately 80 … what is the use of offering 3 million applications if many of them are clones of one? Another or bloatware?

Although Huawei’s case for quality over quantity is valid, the real problem is that a large portion of the world’s most popular apps are simply not available through its AppGallery app store.

Delayed problem

Immediately after the U.S. embargo, most Huawei phone users saw no difference in their app selection because the restriction only affects newer Huawei and Huawei phones. Huawei has often downplayed the changes during recent product launches.

Without access to Google Play services, anyone who buys a new Huawei or Honor device today cannot easily access WhatsApp, Instagram, Uber, Uber Eats, Airbnb, Facebook, Google Maps, YouTube, Netflix, Twitter, Tinder, Dropbox , Slack, Amazon Prime, Spotify, eBay, Strava or many others.

In certain cases, it is possible to access some of the aforementioned services through a browser, although often with less functionality. Huawei also recently introduced a new service called Petal Search, which allows users to search for .APK files of Android applications through the companies themselves (for example, Facebook makes its Android applications available for download directly from its own website) or third-party .APK Libraries.

But this solution is difficult to manage and deviates greatly from people’s expectations. Furthermore, it is not easy to provide automatic and timely updates when companies update their applications, a central function served by the respective mobile services of Google and Huawei.

There are no barriers preventing companies, in the US or otherwise, from adding their applications to the Huawei AppGallery. Amazon, Microsoft and Snap have already adopted AppGallery, which points to one of the key differences between the situation Huawei faces today and the one Microsoft faced with Windows Phone. Huawei devices are still Android-based, making it much easier for developers to incorporate their apps into their ecosystem.

But Huawei is now racing against the clock. Most of its devices are currently in the hands of millions of people around the world who can still access Google’s Android. Now the company is trying to tidy up its house before those consumers start upgrading to new devices. As people transition from old Huawei or Honor phones to the new crop of devices, many will not realize that they are buying a completely different version of Android and will be very disappointed.

A decade ago, many less tech-savvy consumers were similarly affected when they bought new Windows phones for the camera only to find they couldn’t access most of the apps their friends had on Android or iOS.

Online retailers are taking note this time. Some post prominent warnings alongside new Huawei devices to avoid backlash from confused consumers who can’t figure out how to install WhatsApp, Instagram, or Uber.

These websites also provide detailed guides for customers, explaining the various processes they can go through to close at least part of this Google size gap. But people don’t like alternative solutions and don’t like friction, which is where Huawei’s rivals will benefit.

In fact, Huawei may have surpassed Samsung as the best dog in global smartphone shipments, but Samsung could be the big winner when Huawei customers look for brands free of app restrictions. Huawei can probably achieve some success in markets that are less dependent on Google and other American companies’ applications and services, such as Russia, but the company’s chances of remaining a world power are slim if it cannot easily make core applications easily available to its users.

Sure, there will always be some users willing to try alternatives to the market-leading applications, but not on a significant scale. In the end, it doesn’t matter how good the AI ​​is on the device or how amazing your camera is. That is the painful lesson that Microsoft and Nokia learned with Windows Phone so many years ago.