Huawei Petal Search and Docs are taking over Google and Microsoft

It’s Huawei’s big day and as expected, a number of products have been announced to show the world that it can still get big. However, the company announced not only hardware, but apps and services as well, which virtually boast of its independence from companies with which it can no longer do business under US regulations. However, it remains to be seen whether Petal Search, Petal Maps, and Huawei Docs will get enough traction from both users and partners to stay in service for long.

Google search competitors aren’t exactly new, but few can claim to have as much breadth and depth as arguably the most popular internet search engine, good or bad. Petal Search, with which Huawei is now represented in over 170 countries and supports over 50 languages, tries to offer almost the same functions, including tools for weather, exchange rate and more. It even supports image search by taking photos and of course voice search.

Search isn’t the only major internet service Google offers, however, and Petal Maps is trying to fill in another big pair of shoes. However, this is operated by the navigation company TomTom in order to have a large range, which, according to the company, covers over 140 countries. It provides real-time updates on public transport, at least in major cities, as well as voice notifications in English, French, Mandarin and more.

However, Huawei isn’t just targeting Google. Finally, it also has to deal with the fact that Microsoft’s software may also be withdrawn. Fortunately, it’s easier to replace word processors and spreadsheets these days, and Huawei claims that its Docs suite now supports over 50 document types, including the common culprits like DOCs and PDFs.

Huawei is unlikely to find a shortage of users for these apps and services, at least in China, where Google is not gaining a foothold. Elsewhere, however, not only will these Huawei products pale in comparison, but they also won’t really address the root cause of their problems with the U.S. government, the allegations of state sponsored espionage made by using Huawei’s own Google and even easier could Microsoft alternatives.