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Our most inquisitive readers in the world, of course, already know that Huawei has introduced a global version
The point of no return has been passed
The most important thing to understand about plans andHuawei's strategy in the smartphone market is that the point of no return has been passed, and the company will never return to smartphones with Google services. When I say “never,” I mean that theoretically, in the event of the lifting of sanctions by the US, Huawei may well be able to release several models of Android smartphones with Google services (hereinafter GMS), but these will be (if at all) tactical maneuvers that will no longer affect the company's global strategy. And it consists in a complete transition to its own operating system Harmony and the development of an ecosystem of devices on it. Partially, this goal is already being fulfilled - sales of Huawei Consumer Business are growing in the segments of wearable devices (91% per year), TWS headphones (111%), computers (27%), IoT devices (19%). The company is also making plans for monitors, including gaming monitors. Huawei will develop its HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) services, and has been doing this for over a year.
“Get your asses off, we’re going to do HMS!”
Derek Yu explained how this fateful decision was made.
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“I remember well how everything happened in 2019, II will never forget this date - May 16th. The US government, as you know, has imposed sanctions against us. When did this happen? Then on May 19th, Google notified us that it would not be able to provide GMS services for future Huawei devices. After which we received many questions from journalists, clients and partners about how everything would happen. So we spent a lot of time explaining to them that for current devices we will still support GMS, devices can still be updated. As a result, we maintain our sales of P-series smartphones, and convince ourselves that one day we will get GMS. For several months in 2019, we took no action. We discussed the possibility of implementing GMS services using some third party solution. But they did not take any action. Then at the end of that year, the boss called all the managers for a meeting to tell everyone that from today we are abandoning this idea. Get off your butts and go create HMS!” No, seriously, that’s what he said, verbatim quote “Move your ass and go to HMS".
“I understand why the US government decided to do thissolution. It's not because of 5G. This is because it wants to kill Huawei, a high-tech company in China. It's not about 5G, it's not about you making some mistake. All because they want to kill you."
What is the role of the Huawei nova 9 smartphone
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I personally like the design of this smartphone, andin general, Huawei's design solutions in recent years. I find this module in the form of either an eight or an infinity sign more interesting than the hotplates of the new iPhones (I personally have a feeling that Jobs would have fired the designer who proposed such a solution even when he saw the sketches). And I don't like these too protruding camera modules in Samsung and Xiaomi smartphones. When I asked "why not make the phone cases a little thicker, and fill this space with an increased battery, which will never be superfluous," all representatives of smartphone manufacturers just shrug their shoulders and refer to consumer tastes in public opinion polls. Say, buyers want slim phones and that's it. I'm not ready to argue with polls and studies, but I have a suspicion that buyers will appreciate the increased battery life of the smartphone more, and they will simply not care about the extra two millimeters of thickness.
But let's return to nova 9.I would like to tell you how he will bring back sales of Huawei smartphones, how he will reverse the decline, and how capable he is of radically changing the situation. I would like to, but I can't. Because there is none of this in him. But the paradox of the situation is that in the current situation Huawei does not need this. For the company to survive, the local Chinese market is enough, where, as we all know, there are no Google services, and therefore buyers are not at all concerned about their absence. They have long since learned to do well without them. All Huawei needs is time (a couple of years for sure, maybe more) to polish its operating system and make it attractive to both buyers and application developers. This is not to say that the task is simple (Samsung with bada, for example, did not succeed, nor with Tizen), but there are still chances - Huawei employees are not short of stubbornness and determination. In addition, all these difficulties relate only to software, and the company’s hardware is in perfect order - two years ago, the P30 Pro smartphone surpassed the camera capabilities of Samsung smartphones. And all this technical potential of Huawei has not gone away. It exists, and the company is not going to stand still. All it needs in foreign markets is to stay afloat, hold out until the “arrival of the cavalry” in the form of a working operating system that does not raise questions among the buyer (the number of applications in the store and the lack of contactless payment are its biggest pain points today). That is, Huawei needs interesting news feeds that allow it to appear on the radars of buyers and journalists. And here we come to the question of why we created the FreeBuds Lipstick TWS headphones.
Who needs FreeBuds Lipstick and why were they made in the first place?
Externally, the new ones are very reminiscent of FreeBuds 4,Only the new one is red. There is a suspicion that these are the same headphones, just repackaged. And this whole idea very much resembles a marketing experiment in search of new sales channels and sales methods. Relatively speaking, I can see how easily and naturally it will be possible to sell headphones with such an appearance in expensive cosmetics and perfume stores, where the price tag of 250 euros does not look something alien. And the purchase scenario is also clear - a man looking for a gift for his passion. Budget, unusual appearance, versatility of the gift (suitable for any smartphone), even price (unless, of course, you put these headphones on a shelf next to other headphones or in a store that sells mass brands of cosmetics and perfume). All this plays in favor of such an experiment. Not to mention the fact that such an appearance and non-standard positioning can attract attention to the brand (which, in fact, is what Huawei needs at the current historical stage - your and our attention as the media). It is clear that this is an experiment, it is clear that in business 95% of experiments end in failure, but remember - such interesting and popular products as the Motorola RAZR, Asus Eee PC or Galaxy Note were launched precisely as experiments, with incomprehensible returns.
In the dry residue
No, Huawei nova 9, with all its advantages,will not be able to change the balance of power in the market, no matter how much we would like. No, Harmony is not ready yet, and will appear on Huawei smartphones in Europe only next year (or so they promise). But at the same time, I personally have no doubt that Huawei will have the strength and patience to bring the development of its operating system to fruition. And convince Chinese appliance makers to use Harmony to work their own magic. All you need is to hold out for a couple of years (although maybe more) and not leave the markets of other countries. And regularly hit the news with products like FreeBuds Lipstick. And every time you hear about a new unusual Huawei product that breaks the mold, you will remember these words.