Huawei is planning to launch its presumably titled P40 Pro in Europe and a number of other markets outside of China, a new report has claimed. If Huawei follows tradition, the P40 Pro could be unveiled as soon as March.
The Information has declared Huawei is attempting to combat the trade block that forbids it from leveraging Google apps and services by encouraging users to support its own programmes that replicate similar functionality.
Claims of a global launch for the P40 are certainly interesting, especially because Huawei hasn’t even released its Mate 30 Pro in key European countries, such as the UK.
When it launched the Mate 30 Pro at a glitzy German event in September, Huawei said it intended to release the flagship globally. However, the device remains confined to a small number of markets including China and Singapore.
Assuming the latest report is true, it’s unclear why Huawei would plan to release its P40 series globally after expressing such hesitance with the Mate 30. Assuming nothing changes in terms of US relations, Huawei’s P40 would similarly arrive without Google support.
Huawei hasn’t confirmed as such, but it’s presumed the company is holding back a full release of the Mate 30 Pro because it doesn’t support Google apps or services, both of which are fundamental to the Android user experience in the West.
Although Huawei was recently granted another 90-day extension by the Trump administration allowing it to do business with US companies, that doesn’t apply to new products. Meaning the Mate 30 Pro will remain isolated from Google support.
Following the move from the US Commerce Department, Huawei expressed its disappointment and insisted it continues to be “treated unfairly”.
The Chinese company said: “Extending the Temporary General License won’t have a substantial impact on Huawei’s business either way. This decision does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly either.
“We have long held that the decision by the US Department of Commerce to add Huawei to the Entity List has caused more harm to the US than to Huawei.
“This has done significant economic harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business, and has already disrupted collaboration and undermined the mutual trust on which the global supply chain depends. We call on the US government to put an end to this unjust treatment and remove Huawei from the Entity List.”
Assuming nothing changes, Huawei will be banned from doing business with the US on February 16, 2020. Therefore, its P40 would similarly come without Google apps or services.
In terms of the P40 Pro itself, not much is known about the device. There haven’t been any prominent rumours or leaks about the smartphone thus far.
With that said, Huawei’s P-series always places its camera on a pedestal, and we’d expect the P40 Pro to be no different. It’s also possible the device could adopt a waterfall display, just like the Mate 30 Pro.
The Chinese tech giant usually unveils new P-series devices in March, so Android fans may not have long to wait to see Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone.