Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus smartphones may abandon Google services on Android

After Donald Trump returned to the US presidency, the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing has escalated again. A new wave of import tariffs and possible restrictions have already prompted Chinese smartphone manufacturers to begin preparing for potential sanctions.

During Trump’s previous term, Huawei was restricted, losing access to Google services, including the Play Store. In response, the company developed its own operating system, HarmonyOS. Now, according to industry sources, other major players are considering a similar scenario.

According to rumors, Xiaomi, Oppo, vivo and OnePlus, together with Huawei, are discussing the possibility of creating a version of Android that does not depend on the Google ecosystem. An updated version of Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 could be used as the technical basis. It is not yet known how close the cooperation between the brands will be and what role Huawei will play in the project.

Huawei subsequently completely abandoned support for Android applications in HarmonyOS. Whether other manufacturers will follow suit remains an open question. It is also unclear whether Huawei technologies such as Ark Compiler and Petal Maps will be used.

According to data for the first quarter of the year, the leader of the Chinese smartphone market is Xiaomi, followed by Huawei, and Oppo and vivo occupy third and fourth places. Together, these companies provided two-thirds of the smartphone shipments in the country.

Despite the loss of Huawei’s global leadership, Chinese manufacturers, including Xiaomi, vivo and Oppo, remain in the top five brands in the global market. The possible rejection of Google services could significantly change the structure of the market outside China, but the question remains to what extent such devices will be needed by an international audience.