Huawei is set to prove that nothing can come in its way when it comes to selling its smartphones. This is especially evident when it’s been reported that the Chinese tech giant is partnering with TomTom for all the navigation and location services for its future smartphones. The reports are backed up by a statement by TomTom’s spokesperson who said that the deal closed “some time ago”.
Now, if you’ve been paying attention recently, 2019 hasn’t really been a good year for Huawei as due to some circumstances, it was blacklisted by some major US hardware and software companies. One of those companies happened to be Google, which was a big blow to the brand as it resulted in it not being able to access its services.
For a company that primarily sells smartphones running Google’s Android, not having access to Google services isn’t exactly a recipe for success. Quite the contrary, actually. One of the most popular Google service, that even most iPhone users use, is its location service. Better known as Google Maps, it has become the standard for mobile location and navigation.
Any normal person at this point would think this would be the demise of Huawei but the brand has a knack for not giving up without a fight. It has now partnered up with TomTom, a Dutch consumer electronics company that specializes in vehicle navigation systems, to provide its location services.
I think this is a brilliant move by Huawei as the company knew it didn’t have the infrastructure to develop its own location service. Even if it did manage, it would’ve been too expensive and, more importantly, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good as Google Maps, which has been here for years with constant improvements. To counter that, Huawei went with a brand that has an already existing service that’s actually good.
However, this might just be a short-term solution as previous reports have claimed the company to introduce a mapping system called “Map Kit”, which will use various sources, including Huawei’s own “telecom base stations”, to provide location services. There’s a possibility that this might be the final plan for the company while partnering with TomTom is just a temporary substitute until the Map Kit fully develops.
Regardless, I can’t wait till Huawei gets this new location service and try it out to see if its any good. For all I know, this just might be better than Google Maps, though that is a long shot. I do know, however, that it will get the job done rather well. Who knows if this turns out to be successful, Huawei might even ditch Android altogether and come up with its own Operating System which can give both iOS and Android a run for their money.