Huawei reportedly has its own operating system on standby in the event the company is ever banned from using Android or Windows.
The company's homegrown software was briefly brought up in an interview between Huawei consumer business group chief Richard Yu and German media outlet Die Welt. "Should it ever happen that we can no longer use these systems, we would be prepared. That's our plan B. But of course we prefer to work with the ecosystems of Google and Microsoft," he reportedly said, according to a translation.
A company spokesperson later confirmed this so-called "Plan B" with the South China Morning Post. "Huawei does have backup systems but only for use in extenuating circumstances. We don't expect to use them, and to be honest, we don't want to use them," the Huawei spokesperson reportedly said. "Android and Windows will always remain our first choices."
The news comes as Huawei is facing criminal charges in the US for engaging in financial fraud and stealing intellectual property. The company's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was also arrested in Canada for allegedly orchestrating its attempts to circumvent US sanctions on Iran. On top of all this, the US government has tried to ban the company's technology sales across the world over fears of a potential spying threat.
Huawei has denied any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the company could face stiff penalties from the US government. Last year, the US Commerce Department punished a separate Chinese smartphone vendor, ZTE, for violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea by briefly banning US companies from selling to it. As a result, ZTE lost access to critical components, forcing it to temporarily shut down.
Rumors about Huawei's Linux-based OS have been around for years. But based on the reported statements, it doesn't appear the company is confident the software can replace Android or Windows. That's no surprise, given that other operating systems (Windows Phone, Samsung's Tizen) have struggled with lack of third-party support from application makers.