Huawei spending $26M to court developers to build apps for its phones, report says
Banned from US networks, the Chinese tech giant is looking for more content for its AppGallery.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Huawei is reportedly trying to entice developers to build apps for its new flagships phones.
After being banned from US networks in 2019, Huawei reportedly plans to spend £20 million (around $26 million) to entice developers to create apps for its new phones . While Android is open source and can be used by Huawei , the Chinese tech giant is barred from using Google services like the Play Store. The new investment, announced in London on Wednesday, is designed to coax developers to rejig their apps for Huawei's AppGallery, according to a report from Business Insider.
Huawei was blacklisted in May when it was added to the United States' "entity list" (PDF). In addition to adding Huawei to the list, President Donald Trump at the same time signed an executive order essentially banning the company from US communications networks in light of national security concerns that Huawei had close ties with the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied that charge.
In spite of the US blacklisting, Huawei sold almost 7 million 5G phones last year.
The apps being built for Huawei's app store will have fewer ads and notifications, Jaime Gonzalo, Huawei's VP of European mobile services, reportedly said Wednesday. "This is very good from a privacy perspective," he said.
Huawei didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
