Huawei has unique solution to offer Google services on its phones

Huawei chairman Eric Xu said the company lost $10 billion in revenue after getting blacklisted by the US.

Huawei chairman Eric Xu said the company lost $10 billion in revenue after getting blacklisted by the US. (REUTERS)

Huawei has been exploring ways to reduce dependence on Google after it got blacklisted by the US. The company has built its own Play Store like "AppGallery" but it still wants Google to join the app store.

Huawei chairman Eric Xu in an interview acknowledged that the US ban has hit the company hard. The move has caused a revenue shortfall of about $10 billion, he added.

Huawei has been launching phones without Google apps. The company has also come up with a homegrown operating system "HarmonyOS" which competes with Google's Android.

While the absence of Google apps doesn't matter on its home turf, other markets such as the US or India, Google apps are immensely popular.

Xu has come with up a new proposition where Google apps can still be part of the company's ecosystem. "We hope Google services can be available through our AppGallery, just like how Google services are available through Apple's App Store," he told CNBC.

As you already know, Google offers its services on iPhones through Apple's App Store. A similar route will allow millions of Huawei customers to access Google apps.

"I've always argued that even if Huawei could get most major developers onto its AppGallery in the upcoming years, there is still one critical developer whose apps would be missing: Google," Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC, told CNBC.

"So if Huawei is really able to get Google on board, then it would be a significant milestone."