Despite Google Ban, Huawei is still releasing expensive flagship phones in...

It’s the time of year I usually get rave about the latest Huawei Mate series. But a lot has changed in the last year and a half. I didn’t expect the Huawei Mate 40 Pro to come to Australia at all – especially after the recent releases of stunning but throttled phones. But it is … and still costs $ 2,000.

In Australia, Huawei has gone from arguably the best phone cameras on the market to the best phone cameras on the market. However, due to the US trade ban, Huawei’s undeniable hardware has become largely insignificant to the majority of buyers.

A quick and oversimplified lesson on Huawei modern history

In 2019, President Donald Trump declared a trade ban between Huawei and US companies. This meant that in the future, these companies would no longer be able to work with or maintain Huawei and its products.

This came at a time when Huawei was making a name for itself in Western markets. Brand awareness increased, the phone outperformed the competition, and telecommunications co-marketed them with other flagship brands. It was really a shame to see that.

There was a slight relief that these companies could maintain existing Huawei products. In other words, phones and laptops that were already on the market would continue to receive software updates and even hardware. But future devices? Not as much.

And we saw that last year with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. From an app point of view, it was severely limited.

And for Huawei in the west, things haven’t gotten much better since then. Over the past few months, the company has stated that it may no longer be able to manufacture its Kirin chipsets due to a shortage of processor chips. While it is currently lobbying against it, Qualcomm will currently no longer be allowed to work due to the sanctions.

No google for you

The biggest and most practical example of why this is all a problem is with Google services. The Mate 30 Pro (and every Huawei device since then) failed to run proper versions of the Android operating system. They also couldn’t access the Google Play Store or use Google Apps.

Sure, there are ways to get around this, but they’re not practical or convenient solutions for the average customer. People generally want their most popular phone apps to be easy to access. Security updates are also generally preferred.

As a result, the Mate 30 Pro launch in Australia was significantly smaller than previous generations. In addition, the company introduced an incredibly strange competition where people had to win the chance to buy one in the first place.

We have since seen two more Huawei versions in Australia – the flagship P40 Pro and the foldable Mate Xs for $ 4,000. They also didn’t have a Play Store and this led Huawei to step up marketing for its own App Gallery alternative. It also started to encourage people to use the web versions of incompatible apps.

It made apps difficult

It’s worth noting that not all US company apps are incompatible with newer Huawei devices or the App Gallery. In fact, Whistleout has had a robust post on which popular apps (including the Australian one) work and which don’t.

Some apps have no problems at all, including very popular ones like Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, and Twitter.

However, others, including many streaming services, only work through an APK mirror or website. Huawei has tried to solve this through its petal search feature which essentially stops you from looking for APKs yourself. The problem here, however, is that even though Petal Search is checking, any file could be malware.

Paving solutions

Another solution Huawei embarked on earlier this year was Phone Clone, an app that was used to copy all of your apps from one phone to your new Huawei. This included apps that cannot be downloaded natively on the Huawei 2020 devices as they are only available on Google Play.

At the time, there were a lot of influencer Instagram posts about phone clones.

However, the problem with Phone Clone is that after moving the apps this way, the apps will not update automatically. And that makes sense, the hint is in the name. The app simply clones the version that you had on the original phone.

To get an app update, you need to download it to the original phone and then clone it to the Huawei device again. You need to do this for every single app that cannot receive automatic updates on the Huawei device.

It is unlikely that all customers or influencers will realize this. And that’s a problem because apps that don’t get updated can be a security risk as they often close security holes.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro

Given the difficulty the US trade ban has created for Huawei (and consumers), I’m really surprised that the company is bringing out another phone here.

There is no doubt that the Mate 40 Pro is a beautiful animal. With Huawei’s track record and the spec sheet, I know the photography skills will be stunning. After all, it has 50 MP wide, 20 MO ultra-wide and 12 MP telephoto lenses on the back. And I’m sure these will continue to improve with incredible software.

But I’m still shocked.

Part of this is also due to market activity in recent months. Huawei ended its decades-long main sponsorship of the Canberra Raiders in August.

The company is also expected to cut more jobs in Australia by next year. While the trade ban may have something to do with it, Huawei has also cited Australia as a reason banning Huawei technology from its 5G network.

“In simple terms, Huawei’s 5G ban cost us 1,000 high-tech and high-wage business jobs. We’ve grown from 1,200 to fewer than 200 employees and will be even lower by next year, ”Huawei chief corporate affairs officer Jeremy Mitchell told AFR in September.

“From a sales perspective, we’ve moved from annual sales of over $ 750 million – which could easily have increased to $ 1 billion with 5G – to a situation where sales over the next few years will be below $ 200 million. Dollar will lie. ”

With that in mind, I can’t see the logic behind the Mate 40 Pro version despite my love for Huawei devices. It’s a neutered phone priced at $ 1,999 and only sold in Huawei-owned stores in Chatswood and World Square in Sydney.

It’s a stretch even for enthusiasts or people who aren’t interested in Google services.

Every time these limited-edition devices are released, I feel like we’re watching Huawei gasp in desperation in a sea of ​​political shit. I hope these sanctions are lifted and we see these phones return in full strength.

But right now every potential liferaft seems to float further and further away.