The trademark’s been filed in Canada, the European Union, Mexico, and more.
What you need to know
- Huawei has filed to trademark its Android replacement OS, HongMeng.
- It’s been trademarked in more than 10 countries.
- The first devices with HongMeng are expected to launch in October.
It appears the launch of Huawei’s Android replacement, HongMeng, is getting closer. Recently, the second largest smartphone maker in the world began filing to trademark the OS in a handful of countries.
Currently, the list includes countries such as Australia, Canada, Cambodia, the European Union, Mexico, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and several more.
One of the biggest casualties from the U.S. ban on Huawei was losing direct access to the Android operating system and the Play Store for future devices. Thankfully, Huawei has had a Plan B in the works for quite some time, working on its very own mobile OS called HongMeng.
HongMeng is expected to be a full Android replacement compatible with phones, tablets, TVs, computers, and cars. It is even supposed to include support for Android apps, making it likely the OS is based on the Android source code.
Although, even with support for Android apps, it will only be able to use third-party app stores such as Huawei’s App Gallery. The Play Store cannot come pre-installed on a Huawei phone as long as the U.S. ban is in effect.
Not long ago, there were rumors that devices running Huawei’s new OS could launch as soon as October of this year. According to sources, it would first launch on entry-level devices until it is more developed and ready to power Huawei’s flagships.
Regardless of how good or bad Huawei’s replacement OS is, it will live and die by the apps which are available on it. In countries such as China with access to several app stores, this might not be as big of an issue, but if Huawei wants to compete globally, it’s going to have to find a way to provide access to a diverse selection of apps.
Of course, this will all be a non-issue if the U.S. and China can come to some sort of trade agreement, or if the U.S. ban prevents Huawei from producing hardware.
Huawei Android ban: Mate 30 without Google? Will your phone get updates?
