Huawei: WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook will no longer be preinstalled

According to a Reuters rumor, Facebook Group apps will no longer be installed by default on upcoming Huawei smartphones. For users, it changes little

The next Huawei smartphones will no longer have Facebook Group apps pre-installed at the factory. Reuters reports this, explaining that this is due to the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, which has already led Google to remove official Android support for the Chinese giant's smartphones.

As Huawei is now on the "black list" of foreign companies that can undermine U.S. national security, Facebook has also been forced to act similarly to Google. As a result, goodbye to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram on Huawei's devices, although users will be able to install them after purchasing the phone. This is certainly not good news for Huawei, which, in 2018, has seen its smartphone division grow to the point of becoming the most important in the company's balance sheet. But, as we'll see, neither is it for Facebook. Little change, really, for buyers of a Huawei smartphone.

What changes for users

According to anonymous sources cited by Reuters, while the end of official relations between Google and Huawei will really happen 90 days after the latter's inclusion on Donald Trump's infamous list (second half of August), Facebook Inc. apps would already be taken off smartphones that haven't even left Huawei's factories yet. The devices that are about to arrive on store shelves, therefore, would already be largely without Facebook apps pre-installed.

Users, however, will be able to continue using the apps: once the device is booted and configured, they will be able to download the apps from the Play Store (as long as it is there) or from AppGallery. Owners of a Huawei smartphone with the Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp app previously installed (or pre-installed at the factory), on the other hand, will continue to receive updates regularly. It is not known, at the moment, if also for this type of users in the future there will be repercussions.

What changes for Huawei and Facebook

For Huawei it is certainly not good news, but a confirmation of the fact that the policy choice of the American administration is leading the Chinese company more and more towards isolation. On the other hand, the world of electronics today is made like this: the hardware is born in China, the software in the United States, and if the US and China quarrel, companies and users get in the way. But it's not good news for Facebook either, as it loses millions of potential users worldwide. In fact, in mid-2018, Huawei became the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, after Samsung which remains in the lead, dropping Apple to third place. At the moment neither Facebook nor Huawei have commented on the news reported by Reuters.