Huawei is probably not expecting the U.S. government to change its mind anytime soon and so they have been inking deals with various companies as alternatives to all the services they can no longer access. The latest one that has been made public is with Dutch navigation and digital mapping company TomTom. The deal between the two companies will see Huawei use their maps and services for their own smartphone apps since they are not able to use Google Maps and other Google services.
Reuters reported that TomTom spokesman Remco Meestra said that they were able to finalize a deal with Huawei Technologies a while back but they are only able to make it public now. The deal means Huawei will be able to use their maps, traffic information, and navigation software for their own smartphones. But aside from that, no other information provided and the spokesperson refused to discuss the details of the deal.
If you’ve been living under a rock and do not know Huawei’s troubles, U.S. President Donald Trump effectively blacklisted the Chinese company for having close ties to the Chinese government and for suspicion of spying on U.S. citizens. This means U.S. based companies like Google have banned them from using their products like the official Android operating system and things like Google Maps and other Google products.
This continued blackballing has forced Huawei to look to other companies and to develop their own operating system as well. How users will respond to not having Google officially on their devices remains to be seen as people have gotten used to Android and Google products for conducting their everyday business on their smartphones.
TomTom sold its telematics division to Bridgestone in 2019 to be able to focus on their digital map-linked business. They have also moved away from selling devices so having a deal with Huawei could be beneficial for both of them.