On March 27, the Russian Satellite News Agency reported that due to U.S. sanctions, Google has stopped certifying smartphones from Russian BQ that run the Android operating system. The company is already testing China's Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system.
Screenshot from: Russian media Gazeta.ru
Russian media Gazeta.ru quoted Vladimir Puzanov, general manager of Russia's BQ company, as saying that they received a notice from Google that U.S. law prohibits the provision of services to Russia, including export, re-export, and the provision of U.S.-origin software and technology to Russia. Buzanov said all already certified equipment will continue to operate. There may be problems with the Android system of the new device.
Google also issued a notice to developers earlier this month, predicting that users of the Russian Play Store will soon be suspended from the purchase of apps / games, while in-app in-app purchases and subscription functions will also be suspended, when Russian Android mobile phone users will not be able to purchase and subscribe to the software through the Google Play Store.
According to the report, BQ is already testing China's Huawei's Hongmeng operating system, and a new smartphone equipped with hongmeng operating system may be released in the second half of 2022.
Huawei: There are no plans to push Harmony OS mobile phones overseas
Although netizens generally believe that Huawei can use the Hongmeng system to open up the Russian market and reverse huawei's current predicament. However, Huawei said in response to interviews with global daily, securities times and e companies: "Since its release, HarmonyOS has been loved by a large number of consumers, and by the end of 2021, 220 million Huawei devices have been equipped with HarmonyOS." We are very grateful for your attention and expectations for HarmonyOS, but there are no plans to launch a mobile phone equipped with HarmonyOS overseas. ”
Smartphones suffered from the "disconnection" of the Android system, and the blow was comparable to Huawei being "cut off".
Hongmeng itself is an operating system that can support multiple devices and hardware, whether it is mobile phones, tablets or watches, cars, IoT Internet of Things and other devices, only a system can be connected, can cover memory as small as 128K, as large as 4GB or more and other large and small smart terminal devices. Its biggest feature is that it makes full use of distributed technology, allowing users to freely combine and combine hardware to integrate multiple terminals into one.
In response to the problem of multi-device connection, Hongmeng has brought a unified control center, using a card design, the interface is simple, the use is simple, different devices can be interconnected with a gentle pull, and mobile phones and PCs can form a hyperterminal terminal. It is reasonable to say that Hongmeng launched an overseas version, and the technical level is completely fine, but for the current Huawei, every investment must be considered repeatedly.
For example, what are the benefits of partnering with BQ for Huawei?
What is BQ's background?
Xiaobian did not find more detailed information about the company on the Internet, according to the Russian appcube.ru website, BQ company's accurate name is BQ Mobile, founded in 2003 (another website sonre.ru said to be 2010), has been part of Mundo Reader Holding Company, has been engaged in the development of electronic equipment and accessories, mobile phones are only launched in recent years, although it is impossible to compete with international brands in quality, But the win is in the lower pricing.
In the fall of 2021, BQ released its flagship smartphone, the BQ-6200L Aurora, featuring an AI-based 3D face unlock function, an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 processor, a large bezel-less screen and a smart camera. The BQ smartphone in this configuration costs only 15,990 rubles (about 1,000 yuan, at the exchange rate on March 28).
It is reported that BQ's mobile phone is completely localized for the Russian market, which is favored by domestic consumers, and the foundry is produced in China and then sold by Russian dealers.
According to reports, the company sold nearly 1 million devices in the first year of its establishment, and since then, BQ sales have increased by at least 500,000 per year. According to Counter Point Analytics ratings, in 2017, BQ became one of the top five most popular smartphone manufacturers in Terms of Sales in Russia; In 2018, BQ accounted for 7% of the Russian smartphone market share.
According to the market share ranking of Russian smartphones in 2021, they are: Samsung 30%, Xiaomi 23%, Apple 13%, Honor 6%, realme 5%, and other brands 23%. From all the above data, in recent years, the market share of BQ mobile phones is not high even in Russia.
Although after being sanctioned by the West, Apple, Samsung and other companies have announced their withdrawal from the Russian market, Chinese brand mobile phones and Russian local mobile phone brands will usher in rare development opportunities. But BQ's situation is even more difficult than Huawei's, even if it can use Hongmeng, there is no chip available - Intel, AMD, TSMC, GF, MediaTek, Qualcomm, etc. have all taken sanctions against Russia, and according to the sonre.ru website, BQ's main chip suppliers are Qualcomm, MediaTek and Spreadtrum.
It can be seen that even if it can be equipped with the Hongmeng system, BQ cannot solve all the problems, and it is not meaningful for Huawei to do so.