Google restricts Huawei from using Android: Here's what that could mean for you

Industry expert Tristan Rayner, senior editor with the Android Authority news website, said the block means security updates to Huawei phones from Google will stop, and that buying a Huawei phone is now a "real risk".

"Existing Huawei device owners will be significantly impacted," he said.

"Whether it's someone with a brand new Huawei P30 Pro, which was unveiled last month, or the owner of an older Huawei Mate device that's a few years old, it's now clear that their Android operating system will no longer receive important security updates."

Google said it was "complying with the order and reviewing the implications".

Huawei's devices in its home market do not have Google apps, but the move will hugely damage the brand's appeal to consumers outside China.

Almost half of the 208 million phones Huawei shipped in 2018 went to outside mainland China, and Europe is the most important overseas market where its devices currently have 29% market share, according to technology research firm IDC.

What do the restrictions mean for users?

Google will halt business activities with Huawei that involve transfer of hardware, software and technical services that are not publicly available.

This means Huawei will also only be able to use the more limited open source version of Android.

Existing customers of Huawei phones will be able to update their Android apps and install new apps through Google's Play Store, but will not be able to update to a newer version of the Android operating system if one becomes available.

Future Huawei smartphones won't be able to include Google apps including YouTube, Gmail and its Chrome web browser, as they are not included in the open source version of Android.

Google said in a statement that some of its services, such as its online app store Google Play, will still operate on Huawei smartphones. 

The tweet also said that its malware detection service Google Play Protect, which screens Android apps for any malicious software, will also carry on working on Huawei smartphones.

However, it's unlikely that Huawei customers will receive future Android updates, which often include important security improvements. Instead, Huawei smartphones will rely on security updates to the open-source version of Android.

 Mr Rayner warned that buying future Huawei phones would be a "real risk" under the restrictions.

"Future Huawei devices will be significantly affected. We now know that future devices cannot be loaded with the Google Play Store, or those Google apps like Gmail or Google Maps," he said.

"Play Services will also not be available, which is a core set of features responsible for many underlying operations on modern Android devices. That makes buying a Huawei phone today a real risk.

"All of this may change rapidly - it's a US government directive, and we can't guess at what may play out between the US and China regarding technology bans."

Kate Bevan, editor of Which? Computing, said some recent purchasers of Huawei devices could consider returning their phones.

"It's unacceptable for consumers to be left without adequate security on their mobiles and Huawei owners will be seeking urgent reassurance that the safety of their devices will not be compromised," she said.

"In this situation, your consumer rights are limited as there's currently nothing faulty with these phones. However, if you purchased a phone in recent weeks it may be worth checking the retailer's returns policy."

Google's Android software is just one piece of US technology that Huawei uses, so the wider fall out of the ban may be devastating for the company and its users if other US firms follow Google's lead.

Chipmakers including Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom have already told employees they won’t supply to the Chinese electronics giant until further notice.

Why has this happened?

The US government says Huawei poses an espionage threat because it is legally beholden to China's ruling Communist Party - a claim that Huawei denies. 

The company is the target of an intense campaign by Washington, which has been trying to persuade allies not to allow China a role in building next-generation 5G mobile networks.

Super-fast networking 5G, the fifth-generation successor to today's decade-old 4G technology which is struggling to keep pace with global broadband demand, promises radically quicker transfers of data.

US government agencies are already banned from buying equipment from Huawei.

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said Saturday that "We have not done anything which violates the law," adding the US measures would have a limited impact.

So far, American officials haven't  presented any concrete evidence of Huawei equipment serving as intentional conduits for espionage by Beijing. 

Trump's executive order last week was apparently aimed at banning Huawei's equipment from US networks and said it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls.

The order - which empowers the US government to ban the technology and services of "foreign adversaries" deemed to pose "unacceptable risks" to national security - did not name specific countries or companies.

Retired brigadier general Robert Spalding, the former senior director for strategy at the National Security Council, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that the UK "must recognise" the strength of US feeling on Huawei.

He wrote: "Other nations must not make the mistake of thinking President Trump's recent executive order banning companies like Huawei from US networks is merely an afterthought of the trade war.

"The severity of President Trump's declaration underscores just how seriously the US views this issue, and the UK must recognise this strength of feeling.

"To miss the significance of his actions would be a grave misjudgment of how seriously we take our security in an ever-more dangerous world."

What is Huawei doing?

Huawei is a rapidly expanding leader in 5G technology, and currently has the most advanced and cheapest 5G capacities in the world.

Its smartphones outsold Apple's iPhones in the first quarter of this year, seizing the California company's second-place spot in a tightening smartphone market dominated by Samsung.

But the Chinese firm remains dependent on foreign suppliers.

It buys about $67 billion worth of components each year, including about $11 billion from US suppliers, according to The Nikkei business daily.

Huawei "is heavily dependent on US semiconductor products and would be seriously crippled without supply of key US components," said Ryan Koontz, a Rosenblatt Securities analyst, although the Chinese firm is believed to have stockpiles in place.

The ban "may cause China to delay its 5G network build until the ban is lifted, having an impact on many global component suppliers," he added.

The companies themselves did not comment.

Huawei has been preparing for this for months and has invested in development of its own smartphone operating system which could replace Android.

Huawei hasn't yet announced that it will switch away from Android, and a spokesman for the company told CNBC in March that it would only use its own operating system in "a worst-case scenario."

The company has also stockpiled at least three months of smartphone chips and hardware to make sure that it can continue to produce its devices whilst US manufacturers are unable to work with Huawei. Bloomberg reports that Huawei has been stockpiling the chips since the middle of 2018.

Huawei chief executive Ren Zhengfei said over the weekend that the US sanctions may hurt Huawei's business. "It is expected that Huawei's growth may slow, but only slightly," he said.

Huawei said it would continue to provide security updates and services for its smartphones and tablets after Google said it would comply with an order barring the Chinese company from updates to its Android operating system.

"We have made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world," a spokesman said on Monday.

"Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.

"We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally," he added.