Kathmandu, May 28

The decision made by the American internet search giant, Google, to break its partnership with Chinese tech giant Huawei has started having an impact in the Nepali market too.

As per Huawei, its sales in Nepal have declined in the last one week. The decision made by Google to discontinue allowing Huawei from using the Android operating system in its smartphones has left Huawei customers across the globe, including Nepal, worried.

Huawei customers are afraid of losing access to Google services such as Gmail, Google Map, Google Playstore and You- Tube. Moreover, users are also worried about not being able to access the software to upgrade Google apps on their phones.

This situation has gradually started affecting the Nepali market as well.

Though Huawei Nepal had earlier assured Nepali customers not to worry about the situation as it was too early to come to any conclusion, the impact of Google’s decision can be witnessed in the market.

As per Pulkit Bhimsariya, Nepali distributor for Huawei Nepal, the company used to sell around 400 units of Huawei smartphones in a single day earlier. However, in the last week, sales have plunged to around 70 units per day.

“Indeed, our sales have been affected after this incident, however, it is also true that customers are worrying more than they actually need to,” he said.

According to Bhimsariya, existing users of Huawei smartphones can update their gadgets with Google app. And users who are planning to buy Huawei smartphones would also be able to enjoy the Google app in the future.

Meanwhile, Zoyas Zhu, country director of Huawei Nepal, said that if Google operating system does not work in the future, the company itself will have an alternative where its users can have all the facilities similar to that of Google apps.

“There is a possibility of Google withdrawing this decision.

But if they do not, then surely we will have an alternative that can satisfy our customers more than Google,” he said.

He further claimed that the recent impact in the Nepali market is for a short-term period.

As per Bhimsariya, number of users visiting their service centres is also rising these days.

“Every day the number of users visiting our outlets to know about the situation is rising.”