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Huawei vs the US: the latest casualty of the trade war and its fallout
by Dominik Bärlocher
Huawei vs. USA: A look at Microsoft, Windows and Matebooks
21.5.2019
Microsoft may no longer work with Huawei. If the current situation persists, the company faces a possible change of operating system. The possibilities and consequences range from government proximity to in-house development.
The economic war between the USA and China has reached Huawei. Since Thursday, 16 May 2019, the Chinese company Huawei has been on the US blacklist. This means that American companies are no longer allowed to do business with Huawei. Google is now no longer allowed to work with Huawei.
Questions arose in yesterday's article.
Wanted to buy a MateBook X pro today - shouldn't there actually be a problem?
Does this only affect Huawei or also other Chinese companies? Huawei also sells notebooks with Intel hardware and Microsoft software, is this also prohibited in the future?
An enquiry to Microsoft Switzerland resulted in a short and concise answer:
Unfortunately, Microsoft Switzerland is unable to comment on this topic.
This may mean that discussions between the parties concerned have not yet progressed to the point where a unified message can be passed on to the media. This is in line with current media reports and the content of this article: a lot of speculation, a situation that changes by the hour and strong opponents who know all the tricks.
The most important facts in brief
Huawei's problem is called Matebook
Huawei has a strong player in the laptop market with its Matebook series. The strategy is similar to that of Huawei's mobile business: strong hardware, competitive price. But unlike the mobile division, Huawei does not rely on an open operating system, because no matter what Mac users say, the world runs on Windows. Therefore, the choice of operating system with Windows makes the most sense.
The problem: Windows is a product from the United States and, according to the US government, will no longer be allowed to be shipped to China on 21 May 2019.
Current devices should not be affected if the current legal situation is in line with that of the Mobile Division. Microsoft Switzerland is not taking a position, which is why we can only speculate about a final decision or a currently correct legal situation.
No alternative to Windows
If the decision of 21 May 2019 is upheld and no special authorisations or legal loopholes are exploited, it should no longer be possible for Microsoft to maintain the secondary cash flow under Windows 10. The fact that users of the operating system in China or on Chinese products would no longer receive updates is only a secondary problem, which could make life difficult for Huawei in particular.
The problem is rather that Huawei does not seem to have a valid alternative for Windows. Apple's macOS will only ever run on Apple products outside of hobbyist circles, Linux is virtually unknown in China and is only marginally used internationally. Worldwide, only 0.84% of all computers connected to the internet run on Linux.
Future vision I: Microsoft China
This situation results in the following situation: Huawei wants Microsoft, Microsoft wants China. Because both parties stand to benefit billions from the partnership. In fact, the Chinese market is so important that Microsoft has its own headquarters in China.
Microsoft (China) Co., Ltd. is headquartered in the Chinese capital Beijing, according to stock market portal Bloomberg, and describes itself as follows:
Translation:
VIPKid was founded in 2013 by Chinese entrepreneur Cindy Mi and is currently valued at three billion US dollars. VIPKid sees itself as the "largest English-language online classroom", offering English courses from native speakers to Chinese children. Teachers earn up to 22 US dollars per hour.
VIPKid is an important tool for the Chinese economy to tap into the West. Just like Windows is an important tool for Huawei to tap into the West and dominate markets as much as possible.
Vision of the future II: Kylin/NeoKylin
The operating system looks similar to Windows XP in 2015, right down to the desktop background with a green hill. The South China Morning Post reported on 14 September 2015 that 40% of all computers sold by Dell are delivered with NeoKylin pre-installed.
According to Quartz, NeoKylin is a Linux distribution, although journalist Nikhil Sonnad is unable to say conclusively which major distribution the Chinese government has modelled itself on. However, he suspects that NeoKylin 6.0 is modelled on Fedora.
NeoKylin is not a particularly attractive alternative for Huawei and the West. On the one hand, there is the connection to the Chinese military, which was employed in the development of Kylin. Secondly, the fact that Kylin's development is quite advanced.
For Huawei, the switch to Kylin makes little sense at the moment.
Future vision III: HongMeng OS, the company's own operating system
Huawei's own-developed smart phone Operating System, reportedly named
Translation:
Huawei's proprietary smartphone operating system, reportedly called
In an article, the pro-government tabloid Global Times reports that Huawei will withstand pressure that Google is being manipulated by politicians and that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will use "legal weapons" to protect the interests and rights of Huawei and the Chinese market. However, the paper does not provide any sources.
So far, there has only been talk of HongMeng OS replacing Android on Huawei's smartphones. But with the switch to HongMeng OS, a development time of six years and a portfolio that goes far beyond smartphones, it is possible that the boundary between desktop operating system and mobile operating system will be abolished. The step towards a seamless ecosystem could succeed with HongMeng OS.
Margin note: HongMeng could, if the spelling "红梦" is correct, stand for "red dream".
Future vision IV: Linux
Huawei is free to create its own distribution or modify an existing one. If the company opts for the latter, it is possible that the development will be similar to Huawei's Emui. The operating system under the surface essentially remains the basic distribution and the company adds its own features and desktop environment.
Future vision V: Without operating system
Huawei can deliver its new laptops without an operating system. This would be attractive for operating system enthusiasts and Linux fans. However, as there are not many of them, a solution for the general public is needed. This could come in the form of a kind of bootloader, i.e. a USB stick from which the Windows installation is started. This is comparable to the installation disc from the 1990s.
From a legal perspective, however, it would have to be clarified how the current regulation can be worked around.
China/USA trade war dossier
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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