After confirming its intentions to release a dual-OS smartphone in the US this year, Huawei has now backtracked and says it has no such plans in the near future. This of course leaves us to wonder if the smartphone manufacturer is being pressured by Google and Microsoft, who of course have vested interests in not seeing a dual-OS smartphone hit the market.
Asus, much like Huawei, recently scrapped its plans to create a dual-OS high profile device expected to launch this year. According the Wall Street Journal, the Taiwanese manufacturer had suspended its plans under pressure from Google and Microsoft.
In a statement to Fiercewireless , Huawei said, “Huawei Consumer Business Group adopts an open approach towards mobile operating systems to provide a range of choices for consumers. However, most of our products are based on Android OS, [and] at this stage there are no plans to launch a dual-OS smartphone in the near future.”
Ditching the dual-OS strategy, Huawei confirmed its continued partnership with Microsoft and announced its plans to release some Windows Phones this year. “Microsoft is still a key global partner of Huawei Consumer Business Group,” the company said. “As long as the consumers continue to demand Windows, we will continue to supply them.”
The statement is at odds with the announcement made by Huawei’s CMO, Shao Yang, a week earlier, “We are still committed to making Windows Phone devices. Compared with Android, the priority of Windows Phone is much lower but is still one of our choices of OS. We are definitely using a multi OS strategy.”
Yang had further said, “With Windows Phone, one direction for us – and one that we are now following – is dual-OS. Dual-OS as in Android and Windows together.” The proposed dual-OS smartphone was said to arrive in Q2 of 2014.
What do you think about the usefulness of dual-OS devices? Is it practical to have to separate operating systems available to switch between, or is there just no point when one will suffice? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
