Test For Huawei As It Unveils Google-free Phone

Chinese tech giant Huawei launched its latest high-end smartphone in Munich on Thursday, the first of its mobile devices not to carry popular Google apps because of US sanctions.

"Today because of the US ban... we cannot pre-install" Google's applications, said Richard Yu, who heads Huawei's consumer business group, as he unveiled the group's latest Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro models.

But heading off fears that a phone without popular apps like WhatsApp, YouTube or Google Maps could not succeed, he stressed that the equivalent platform by the firm offered a choice of 45,000 apps through the Huawei App Gallery.

Yu added that the Shenzhen-based giant was investing US$1 billion into its Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) core software ecosystem, as he urged app developers to bring their creations to the system.

Huawei, targeted directly by the United States as part of a broader trade conflict with Beijing, was added to a "blacklist" in Washington in May.

Since then, it has been illegal for American firms to do business with the firm, suspected of espionage by US President Donald Trump and his administration.

As a result, the new Mate will run on a freely available version of Android, the world's most-used phone operating system that is owned by the search engine heavyweight. (AFP)