Google has been unable to get its hands on the app ecosystem of one of the world's most popular phones thanks to the US government's ban on Huawei Now, Google appears to be actively working to lift this ban and may be back in the game when it comes to taking on Samsung's Galaxy S20

The reported overture comes at a time when Huawei is trying to get consumers excited about its new phones, including the Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei Mate 30 Pro, and the new foldable Huawei Mate XS

The Fed's Huawei ban prohibits any US company from doing business with or transferring to the Chinese company, which effectively means that after the P30 Pro, no new Huawei phone or device of any type can use Google's official Android release, app, service or Play Store This meant that they could not be used

According to German financial newspaper Finanzen and Spanish business blog Marketing Directo (via BGR), Google is at least partially negotiating with the White House to lift the ban and allow Huawei to offer Google's apps and Play Store again and that it is negotiating with the White House The latter blog claims that Google has formally requested the White House to lift the ban in order to provide services to Huawei, but has not yet received a timeframe for a response

Google is acutely aware of how much risk it will be taking if the federal government does not allow it to restructure its relationship with one of the largest cellular companies on the planet, which manufactures both Huawei and Honor-branded devices

Huawei has a large share of markets around the world Every phone, tablet, and device sold without Google's apps and services means lost stream revenue for the search giant and its satellite companies Adding millions of these devices would leave a lot of money on the table

But perhaps most importantly, there is also the risk that Google will dilute Android's power Huawei is spending billions of dollars on a new ecosystem with its own Android-based operating system, proprietary and third-party tools and services, and its own online store to replace the Play Store Huawei calls it AppGallery, and other Chinese manufacturers are likely to jump on the bandwagon, knowing that the US government could blacklist them at any time

Of course, it remains to be seen if Huawei can pull off the feat of completely replacing Google with its own phones, but it is not a crazy proposition Not only does the company include its own free tools, but it also has plenty of non-Google equivalents that could replace Mountain View's apps and services

According to at least one Huawei executive, the company has no intention of returning to the Google fold after this Indeed, the fact that Huawei is saying this may be a tactic to increase pressure, but it also means that this is actually working well for them

And it makes a lot of sense for Chinese companies not to return to the pre-ban situation Relying on Google - knowing that the US government can take legal and economic safeguards off their feet at any time - is a big risk Huawei was caught off guard once, but it is hard to imagine a Chinese company being forced into that position again

In other words, the damage is probably already done, and even if Google gets the Feds to change course and Huawei adds the Play Store again, the breakup will have long-term consequences anyway

And in the long run, the split will also erase some of Android's power This is not what Google, or the world as a whole, needs