Huawei Mate 30, Mate X may ship without Google apps

Huawei’s upcoming Mate 30 smartphone and its foldable Mate X are expected to ship without any Google apps, according to a report.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the said smartphones lost access to Google apps including the Google Play Store, Gmail, Chrome, YouTube, and other services, as a result of the trade embargo imposed by the U.S. government. The U.S. Commerce Department imposed a trade embargo in May but granted a 90-day grace period which expired on August 19. The department extended reprieve in certain areas by another 90 days, but Google was not one of them.

The Huawei Mate 30 series is expected to launch on September 19 in Munich, Germany. The foldable Mate X, which was unveiled at MWC 2019 in February, is set to go on sale by the end of the month.

Last month, Huawei officially announced HarmonyOS which the company is developing as a backup plan in case they lose access to Google’s Android. However, HarmonyOS is still in its early stages and is currently being deployed to IoT devices.

source: Nikkei