Huawei & Android: The latest from O2

[Chris_K]

Hi everyone, 

As most of you will have seen, Huawei has been in the news this week and we’re here to update and reassure our customers who use Huawei or Honor devices. This week the US Commerce Department has granted a temporary license restoring Huawei’s ability to maintain existing networks and provide software updates to existing Huawei handsets until August 2019.

We’re continuing to monitor the situation to understand any and all potential implications for our customers and we’ll update this thread with the latest information.

The situation for existing customers

Huawei has indicated that for existing Huawei and Honor devices which are currently on the market, things will stay the same for now and the phones will continue to operate normally, including access to Google services such as Google Play, Gmail, etc. Huawei has confirmed these devices will continue to receive security updates from Android and will be covered by Huawei’s after-sales service.  Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

The situation for new/future customers

For anyone considering purchasing a Huawei or Honor device, we want to help you understand the current situation as best as we can, from what Google and Huawei have made public so far:

• To date, Huawei has not confirmed the availability of future Android updates for their devices.
• However, the US Government has issued a partial and temporary license (expiring 19 August) which permits Huawei to provide service and support, including software updates and patches to existing Huawei devices that were available to the public on or before 16 May.
• Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

In all cases, we continue to analyse the situation closely. We will be in permanent contact with Google and Huawei, in order to share with our customers any additional relevant information.

We understand many of you have some specific questions, so we’d like to cover these below.

I am an existing Huawei smartphone user, what does this mean for me?

• Your device will continue to function as it does today.
• All the Google services and apps will continue to function and you will be able to download & update applications from the Play Store.
• Huawei will be able to issue Android security updates based on patches provided by Google.
• Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed.

*The information provided is based on Huawei's statements.

Q. I am thinking of purchasing a new Huawei smartphone from the current available range, what does this mean for me? 

• Your device will come with full current Android software, including all the normal Google applications.
• All the Google services and apps will continue to function and you will be able to download & update applications from the Play Store.
• Huawei will be able to issue Android security updates based on patches provided by Google.
• Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

*The information provided is based on Huawei's statements.

Can I return my Huawei/Honor device for a refund or exchange as a result of this issue?

• Yes, if you’re within your 14-day Change of Mind period. If you’re outside of 14 days, you will not be able to return the device for a refund on the basis of the current situation while your device continues to work as it should. We will continue to monitor the situation and advise customers if things change.

What about Honor products?

• Honor is not officially included in the list, but as a Huawei subsidiary and as confirmed by Huawei and Google, it is likely that Honor is impacted in the same way as Huawei.

Will Google Services continue to work on existing Huawei phones?

• Google have publicly stated “We assure you while we are complying with all US gov't requirements, services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device.”

Will Google apps/services continue receiving updates?

• Google and Huawei have confirmed for now that Google apps will continue being updated through Google Play.  Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

I heard that Huawei have been granted a 90 day license extension, what does this mean?

• The US government has issued a partial and temporary licence (expiring 19 August 2019) which permits Huawei to provide service and support, including software updates and patches to existing Huawei handsets that were available to the public on or before 16 May 2019.  Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

[jonsie]

An interesting article here:

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/googles-huawei-android-restrictions-heres-what-it-means-for-you

[jonsie]

....and yes, this is quite scandelous!

[viridis]

The current trade in prices are an insult.

[viridis]

And you just know they will be resold as nearly new £600

[MI5]

Not that anyone will be buying them tho.

[snukems]

Absolutely disgusted that i only upgraded to a mate 20 pro end of march and i have to pay off £740 for the device that may not even be fully usuable in a couple of months and you wont do anything but tell the customers to wait it out and see what happens. That is not good enough and i dont want to be left with something i rely so heavily on for upto date apps for and google maps. Then as if that is not bad enough checking your o2 recycle site you are only offering £75 for the handset your company should be ashamed of yourselves for this you are basically blocking any chance we have to switch to another handset, as i said to one of the customer service representitives yesterday i will take the device to the store and leave it there as im not planning to pay for it especially when its lost so much value customers should not be made to pay that huge price tag. 

[jcf224]

If they are devaluing the handsets due to market value then they should reduce the monthly device plan accordingly. I don't want to hear blah blah responses. This handset will cost me over £800 to pay off. My 14 day period ended the day this all started. If I want to change our upgrade via O2 I want a decent return. Not £100 or whatever they decide. Only 3 days ago it was valued at more than £400.

The more people that air their concerns may prompt some action or intervention from a regulator. This needs to be highlighted so as someone can intervene and give customers some financial comeback on this. It is basically like being robbed at the moment and people cannot afford this. There is no protection for customers  and o2 seen to want to hold customers to ransom to avoid losing profit. This is an extreme incident granted, but it is not the customer's fault either but we are being trapped by this drop in trade in prices, yet still expected to pay full price, it is totally unacceptable. Why should I continue to pay the full device plan cost under these circumstances, it is just plain wrong however you look at it.

[snukems]

whats even more laughable now is that on your website if you purchase the mate 20 pro its now £556 to purchase ive literally not even made my second payment on it yet so im still expected to pay the full £740 nearly £200 difference in price for my plan i know product prices change etc but before this buisness all the huawei phones remained at the higher market value there has got to be some sort of consumer law that protects us from this as its completely unfair. 

I went through my terms and conditions and it states this:

7. Goods purchased
7.1 The credit will be provided to finance the sale of the following
goods ("Device"):
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
7.2 If you have received unsatisfactory services or goods paid for under this Credit Agreement, you have the right to sue us or the supplier (where we
are not also the supplier) or both.

I honestly beleive this will come under that because you yourselves at O2 have the information that states there is a high possibility of the device being unable to update important and most used applications including the barring of the use of gmail and google maps. 

Now i know for a fact these are an extremely important feature on my mobile device and i know im not alone in this. 

Again one of the parts of what you have said yourselves is that 

• Based on the current situation, availability of software updates (including apps and bug fixes) after 19 August 2019 cannot be confirmed and it’s possible the ongoing issue could prevent the upgrade of existing apps from taking place.

surely given this insane uncertainty of the issue you would be quickly trying to sort this out for your customers. I mean you have been quick enough to devalue the device.

[jcf224]

While the O2 and 3 websites still show the trade in value at being £100 as of this morning. Vodafone and EE are only offering £20 for P30 Pro 128gb. O2 cs basically said that to get a new phone I need to pay £815 there is no assistance for customers in this position regarding Huawei. I've only had this phone for 20 days and it now has no value, no 4g/WiFi calling,no guarantee of the next android update or app updates after 19th August yet it's ok for the networks to devalue the phones but seemingly not ok for customers to get any discount or compensation for having these handsets. Who is sticking up for us and going to get something done cos if we don't pay every month we'll get blacklisted and bad credit files. Where's the protection for all the people who have bought or signed a contract for Huawei/Honor phones only within a few weeks of this happening? 

[snukems]

I have just been doing some research and as I have only had my phone for under 2 months you should be expected to replace it as you know that I won't receive the updates to keep it upto date within the 6 month period of owning it making it unfit for purpose. I'm extremely disappointed at the lack of any O2 staff coming to talk on here to answer out concerns