Huawei's effort to establish its own operating system could be an impossible task, say people who know from experience

The real trouble Huawei will face will be in trying to replicate the kinds of apps, services, and ecosystem that Google's version of Android offers, they say. Building an operating system or even developing some basic apps likely won't prove much of a challenge for Huawei, the former executives said. Google's move to block Huawei from using its version of Android means that the company won't have access to the search giant's popular Google Play store or any of Google's own apps. Even if they weren't scared off by Trump's ban, many likely wouldn't be interested in customizing their apps for Huawei's operating system until it had tens of millions of users, said Gal, now a technologist with Apple. He continued: "It's a Catch 22 situation." Huawei could build or hire developers to create versions of Google or Facebook's apps, Gassée said. YouTube and Gmail are trademarked, which means Huawei and its developers couldn't mention the services in the names of their apps without Google's permission, he said.