![Huawei returns to Microsoft Store [UPDATE]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/huawei-matebook-x-pro-1.jpg)
Laptops made by Huawei were removed from the online Microsoft Store on May 21st, 2019, and they're back. Now the lot has returned to the online store as if they'd never left, without explanation on the part of Microsoft or Huawei proper. The disappearing and return of these machines is quite likely due to the recent mess Huawei's found itself in here in the United States gadget market.
Though it was obvious that Huawei's blacklisting in the US would have a negative impact on it, thus far, the company hasn't given us a clear idea of just how much of a setback it is. Today that all changed, with Huawei cutting revenue projections based on the hit it expects from the ban. In doing so, Huawei indicated that it's taking a pretty big blow by finding itself at the center of this trade war between the US and China.
Huawei has been painting itself as a victim of great injustice in the past weeks after it had been slammed by a US trade ban. Last week, however, it became the villain when its phones started serving ads on their lockscreens. At first Huawei's US PR team denied any such activity. While it now owns up to the error, it might only be because its actual plans have been revealed ahead of schedule.
With no new release date in sight for the Galaxy Fold, Huawei has decided to use Samsung's story as a cautionary tale and delay its own folding smartphone, the Mate X. Huawei unveiled the phone back in February and was looking to launch it sometime this summer, but it has decided to take more time to put the device through additional testing.
The clock is ticking for Huawei and in less than two months, it will officially be blocked from installing Google's software on future devices. Not unless Google and Huawei are able to convince the US government otherwise, of course. With the stakes that high, Huawei was repeatedly been reported to be preparing a Plan B operating system for its future phones. While the Ark OK that has been mentioned in the past may still be based on Android, a new report suggests that Huawei is also looking into using a Russian-made version of Jolla's Sailfish OS.
Some Huawei smartphone owners have reported the appearance of advertisement on their handset's lock screen. The unexpected ads, which seem to appear only on preinstalled wallpapers of landscape imagery, have been spotted on a number of models, including the P20 Pro and P30 Pro. All of the advertisements are for the same travel booking website.
The US government's clamp-down on Huawei has produced its first victim, with the Chinese tech firm canceling the launch of an upcoming product over the trade blacklist. Huawei faces a blockade between it and the American firms it relies on for hardware and software for its products, but until now has maintained that its device roadmap has not been derailed by President Trump's policies.
Word on the app dev street is that Huawei is trying to discreetly woo Android app makers to publish their wares on the Chinese OEM's app store. It isn't yet making a big campaign probably for fear of kicking up a media storm. Not that it was able to avoid that anyway. It really surprised no one that it's trying to sell the idea of reaching millions of devices across the world but unless Huawei offers a few missing pieces, its call will fall on deaf ears.
Huawei's loggerheads with the US government may have only come to a boil in the past weeks, but the Chinese company has been preemptively working on an alternative to Android for seven years, according to a report today from China. The smartphone-maker has seen its business in the US and further afield thrown into disarray, after the Trump administration added it to an export blacklist.
It has been a few days since Huawei hit the news in any major way but that doesn't mean its battle for survival has stopped. With just a little over a month before the ban takes full effect again, The company may be scrambling to prepare everything it needs on all fronts, from fighting the executive order to defending its position in organizations and alliances to rallying support from key players in the market. Part of the latter seems to involve trying to convince Android app developers to publish their software on its own app store, undoubtedly in preparation for switching away from Google's.
Europe faces billions in additional cost if telecoms are banned from buying Chinese hardware, a leaked industry analysis claims. In addition to increasing costs by approximately $62 billion, the analysis allegedly states, the delay would also put Europe around 18 months behind on its 5G network plans. Nokia has challenged parts of the leaked analysis as it prepares to fill the space Huawei occupied.
It seems the punches just keep on coming for Huawei. After Google cut ties with Huawei and announced that it would soon begin withholding access to some key Android OS and software updates, other companies began following suit. That very same day, companies like Intel and Qualcomm stopped supplying Huawei with hardware, while Microsoft removed Huawei laptops from its retail stores a few days later. Now, it looks like its Facebook's turn to sever ties with the Chinese company.