Huawei’s smartphone plans imperiled by Trump administration ban

SAN FRANCISCO: Huawei Technologies Co. made a pitch to app makers last year: Build software for a new Huawei app store outside China, and we’ll help you inside the world’s most populous nation.

China’s largest technology company told potential partners that by the end of 2018, it would have 50 million Europeans using its own app store, rather than Google’s, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg News. Huawei also held talks with European wireless carriers about spreading this new app store even further, people involved in those talks said.

The app store plans, which haven’t been previously reported, underscore how important Europe is for Huawei. The company has been all but shut out of the U.S. phone market due to longstanding security concerns. But now even its designs for Europe are in jeopardy — along with Huawei’s hard-won status as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker.