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Huawei had confirmed quite recently that it is working on its own operating system as an alternative to Android, and thanks to several trademarks that Huawei submitted, we may know the name of that operating system.
The company has trademarked three names with EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office), including HUAWEI ARK OS, HUAWEI ARK, ARK, and ARK OS. All of these trademarks were filed on May 24, so only a couple of days ago.
These trademarks do not confirm that this is Huawei’s upcoming alternative to Android, of course, but considering that the company confirmed that it is working on that OS, and that its development had to be accelerated due to recent US and Google-related issues, chances are that the OS will be called “Ark OS”.
Huawei actually confirmed way back in November that it is developing an Android alternative, though back then, the news was not as important as it is now. If you have not been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you know that the US basically banned Huawei from doing business with US companies, essentially, which prompted Google to cut ties with the company as well.
Following all that, a number of other companies canceled on Huawei, creating a huge issue for one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. Based on the latest numbers, Huawei is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and the company was aiming to trump Samsung next year, but these latest issues will probably affect those plans quite a bit.
According to recent reports, Huawei’s sales dropped following recent US-related issues. A most of you know, Huawei’s smartphones are based on Android, and even though Huawei was granted a three-month grace period to keep its license, that won’t mean much for the company if it doesn’t manage to turn things around.
Huawei’s CEO said that the company is ready for the change, and ensured its users that everything will be okay, but there are a ton of obstacles for the company, if the situation doesn’t get ironed out. Switching to a completely new OS is one thing, but Huawei is now having issues on the hardware side as well.
Many of its components either come from US companies, or are provided by companies that have direct ties to those US companies, as various patents are into play, which may render Huawei illegible to use those parts. Its Kirin chips may be affected by the whole situation as well.
Now, this may be only a political maneuver initialized by the US President Donald Trump, as he did say recently that Huawei may be included in the US-China trade deal. If that ends up happening, all of Huawei’s issues may be resolved, but the longer this period lasts, the more damage will be done to the company. It would be a real hit for the tech community to see Huawei fall down the ladder, as it would have a considerable impact on competition, and basically leave the vast majority of the market for Samsung and Apple to control.
