They have an opportunity, all they have to do is market it right.
Earlier this year Huawei hit a nail on the road to becoming the number one worldwide smartphone manufacturer, and it is now about time that they address it.
Just like hitting a nail while driving down a road the longer you wait, the worse it can get. Huawei's problem needs to be fixed fast or face the risk of a blowout causing bigger problems later on. But their problem doesn't require a simple patch (U.S. Government permission for Google to do business with Huawei), but a whole new tire. (Harmony Os)
It has been confirmed by a Google spokesman to Reuters "the Mate 30 cannot be sold with licensed Google apps and services due to the U.S. ban on sales to Huawei. A temporary reprieve that the U.S. government announced last week does not apply to new products such as the Mate 30, the spokesman said." Though in my opinion, this is not the end for Huawei as most articles and options have painted it to be. This is the begging, the exact saving grace that Huawei feared, but needed.
Google is one of the few major liabilities that Huawei has in the U.S. Don't get this wrong Huawei sources a bunch of its components from U.S. tech firms but most of them can be substituted for the competition from their own home country or abroad. Android is trickier. It's the operating system that Huawei has always used for its smartphones. (excluding Huawei W1 Windows Phone) Creating a new operating system is hard and the fact that customers are use to Android on their Huawei phones makes the switch even trickier. But if Huawei has been working on Harmony for as long as rumored and their marketing department is up for the challenge this is the best thing to happen to Huawei.
Because this is one of the most important parts of the device and is one that isn't an easy switch, Huawei needs to gear up while they still have a chance and this is their chance. Waiting till the last minute to switch away from Android could be a matter of death for Huawei. Even if they are removed from the entity list, or if Google is given a license to work with them a continued relationship with Google leaves Huawei very venerable to a situation that might end up finishing off the company such as the one we almost saw with ZTE last year or the one we almost say with Huawei this year if it had not been for the 90 days general license. So why not get customers to switch to Harmony now rather than later.
Huawei already has the customer base (second-largest smartphone manufacturer by sales as of Q2 2019), Huawei already has the operating system (Harmony OS), and most important of all Huawei now has the incentive to put that operating system on all of their phones including the best of the best flagships. Something Samsung did not do in its attempt to make a competing OS.
Why do all these things matter? The Apps.
No one will deny that one of the most important parts of an operating system is its app support. if the apps that customers know and love aren't there, or if the apps that are there are just a small collection customers will be hesitant to switch. This is one of the things that contributed to the Windows Phone never catching on. What do you need to get apps? Developers. What do you need to get developers to make apps? A large user base. What do you do to get a large user base? Have a good operating system with plenty of apps. It's a cycle that Huawei already has the most important part, the user base. Huawei can use their already large user base as a point for the persuasion for app developers to create apps for Harmony OS, in fact, if they were smart they would probably be doing that now. The only problem is U.S. made apps could end up being excluded from Harmony OS, Huawei should make this easier on people by demonstrating how to download an Android APK if possible on Harmony.
What about Android Lovers?
All Huawei has to do is convince users to stay with them, this is where the marketing comes in. I feel that this won't be the hard part since their customers already are choosing Huawei's EMUI Android skin over stock Android or other Android skins. This is good because I would assume a lot of Huawei's design choices from EMUI will translate into Harmony OS. Combine the fact that Huawei users aren't pure Android lovers, Harmony OS's rumored ability to download Android APKs and a strong marketing campaign (as well as good prices of course) and this shouldn't be hard for Huawei.
How should Huawei advertise?
Simple, a full-on assault agents Google. This can end in two ways complete embarrassment when they have to switch back to Android (or worse Google not working with them) or you know It could work perfectly. Huawei should focus on weak points of Android like security and other things that people don't like. A lot of research was hopefully made into what people don't like with Android to have been later fixed with Harmony OS. If this happened they should advertise, advertise, advertise on those points. Make sure people all over the world see the narrative of Harmony OS being a superior OS than Android is. This will probably be the most important part, tell people Harmony is superior and then show them why. Maybe even try to pull an Apple and make Harmony OS a cultural phoneme ;) you know what I mean.
An important thing to mention here is to not go after IOS, at least for a while. Huawei's main target should be Android users specifically the Android users that are currently using Huawei products. Combine a full-on assault campaign with some other incentives for current users to switch their phones to a Mate 30 running Harmony OS such as a worthwhile trade-in program or maybe a 30 day or so chance to try the phone. This will get users to give Harmony a chance especially since they believe that they have something to gain from doing so. Huawei needs to make people think they are getting some advantages from switching to Harmony so a special bonus like this should help that.
I would not recommend forcing users to upgrade their current phones to Harmony OS but instead give users the option to if possible. Also, include an incentive with the upgrade maybe a credit for Huawei's App Store for example. The number of users who converted over from Android to Harmony on their current devices could also be very lucrative for future adverting.
Now it won't be a walk in the park, and sure maybe they will lose their 2nd place spot on the sales list for a while but its all about the long term viability of Huawei. I believe if done right Huawei right now has the best chance of doing something many other brands couldn't. They have the customer, they can get the apps, and they have the incentive to go all-in on it. Assuming Huawei can pull off a successful transition from Android to Harmony OS this might just be the best thing that Huawei has done for itself.