A series of Chinese companies are looking to develop an independent version of Android from Google. Photo: PhoneArena .

PhoneArena quoted sources revealing that a series of famous Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus, are exploring the possibility of developing versions of the Android operating system that do not rely on Google Mobile Services (GMS).

The move is said to be influenced by ongoing geopolitical trade tensions between the US and China and concerns about potential future restrictions, similar to what Google previously imposed on Huawei.

Specifically, in May 2019, following the policy of the US Department of Commerce, Google refused to allow Huawei to continue using the Google Mobile Services suite, including Play Store, Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube... This decision at that time seemed to close the door for Huawei to dominate the world smartphone market.

However, Google's move to turn its back on Huawei has been a boost for the domestic market. Strong support from the Chinese helped Huawei sell 238.5 million smartphones in 2019, surpassing Apple and second only to Samsung. In the first quarter of 2020, Huawei accounted for 41% of the Chinese smartphone market share.

While specific details of any collaboration remain unclear, Xiaomi's upcoming HyperOS 3 operating system will likely lay the groundwork for a Google-independent system similar to HarmonyOS, Huawei's own operating system based on the open-source Android code.

If true, this would be a significant impact, as Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo are all among the top five smartphone vendors in the world. The move away from GMS on devices sold internationally would represent a major disruption to the established Android ecosystem.

This couldn’t come at a worse time for Google, which is facing antitrust challenges from the US Department of Justice. The Chrome browser could even be sold for as much as $50 billion if regulators force Google to divest the popular browser.

Source: https://znews.vn/android-dung-truoc-tham-hoa-lon-post1550707.html