According to Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik, on March 27 due to U.S. sanctions, Google has halted the certification of smartphones from a Russian telephone company, BQ, from running Android operating systems. The company claimed it has tested Huawei’s Harmony operating system. Huawei responded, “at this time, there are no plans to introduce mobile phones equipped with Harmony OS overseas.”
Why it matters
Due to the controversial decision made by the U.S. to ban Huawei, the launch of Harmony OS intends to alleviate Huawei’s challenge of being cut off from Google updates.
Context
With the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, many Western countries and civil organisations have imposed various sanctions on Russia.
BQ Russia’s general manager, Vladimir Buzhanov, stated that the company received a notice from Google that U.S. regulations ban the provision of services to Russia, including export, re-export, and the provision of US-made software and technology to Russia. Despite the notice, Buzhanov said all equipment that has been certified will continue to operate. However, Android may have issues with new devices.
