The Chinese manufacturer makes it known that it is ready to say goodbye to Google services, while remaining tied to the Android operating environment. What changes
Chinese smartphone giant Huawei would like to continue using Android, but if that's not possible it will continue to develop its proprietary Harmony OS. In the meantime, waiting for the case of the ban imposed by Trump on the company to unblock, Huawei will continue to use Android but without Google Mobile Services as it has done in recent months.
You can guess this by reading Huawei's latest official statement on the matter: "An open Android ecosystem is still our first choice, but if we can't continue to use it we have the ability to develop our own." The future of Huawei smartphones still hangs in the balance, therefore, as for several months now they can't offer those who buy them a complete Android ecosystem due to Huawei's inclusion in the black list of companies dangerous for the American national security.
The official statement, among other things, was released to make a minimum of clarity after other conflicting statements had circulated on the web, attributed to two different Huawei executives. The first one stated that Huawei would say goodbye to both Google and Android even if Trump's ban were to fall, the second one stated practically the opposite.
Google-Huawei: how things stand
Reading Huawei's official statement, it would indeed seem that the company is continuing in the strategy adopted so far: keeping the door open, but at the same time putting the iron behind the door. Huawei doesn't currently use Google's services (it has replaced them with its own Huawei Mobile Services and, in the meantime, is replacing Google's apps), but continues to use Android as the operating system for its smartphones. The threat of having ready an alternative operating system to Android, i.e. Harmony OS, is in fact very mild and Huawei knows it well: in case of a complete farewell to Google and Android, in fact, the first to lose would be the Chinese who would see many customers flee to other brands.
Huawei P40 and P40 Pro
Huawei has confirmed the arrival of the P40 and P40 Pro by mid-March 2020. These will be the Chinese company's new top of the range devices and, in deference to the strategy just described, they will have the Android operating system but will not have Google Mobile Services, replaced by Huawei's equivalent services. Meanwhile, the Huawei P30 Pro has been on sale for a few days in Italy on Amazon, Mediaworld and Unieuro, with availability starting on February 5 and a price of 1,099 euros. Again, the operating system is "Android Open Source 10.01", that is Android, but without Google services.