Huawei recently closed a deal with Dutch navigation and digital mapping company TomTom. The partnership means Huawei can now use TomTom’s maps and services to develop apps for its own smartphones.
The deal is a direct result of the US trade blacklist placed on Huawei out of concerns over national security, forcing the Chinese company to seek alternatives to Google apps.
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Huawei has been putting a lot of effort into boosting its own AppGallery, going as far as providing funding for app developers to court them into publishing apps for its phones. Because of how Android works, almost all apps are somehow dependent on Google. Huawei working on its own app ecosystem would hopefully break this dependence and start an “app revolution” to break the giant’s monopoly on apps.
So far, Huawei’s AppGallery boasts over 45,000 apps with over 390 million monthly active users worldwide. Though that sounds like a lot, but it’s a far cry from the Google Play Store’s almost 3 million apps.
Still, the AppGallery is well on its way to becoming a legit competitor to the Play Store. It already has TikTok, Snapchat, Amazon Go, Amazon Prime Video, Viu, Fortnite, and a few more popular apps.. It also has a handful of local apps like BDO Personal Banking, PayMaya, GCash, ClickTheCity, Lazada, and more.
