Huawei Abandons Plans For Dual-OS Smartphones

Huawei-Windows-Phone

Huawei has confirmed it has no plans to launch dual-OS smartphones running both Android and Windows Phone.

The company’s statement contradicts previous comments from CMO Shao Yang, who promised dual-OS smartphones would be available during the second quarter of this year, providing consumers with a “new choice” and making it “easier for people to choose Windows Phone.”

“With Windows Phone, one direction for us–and one that we are now following–is dual OS,” Yang told Trusted Reviews earlier this month month. “Dual OS as in Android and Windows together.”

“If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone,” he added. “If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone.”

Yang promised that Huawei’s first dual-OS smartphones would go on sale in the U.S. during the second quarter of this year — but the Chinese company appears to have since abandoned those plans. While it will launch new smartphones powered by Android and Windows Phone, none of them will run both.

Huawei’s announcement comes less than a week after The Wall Street Journal reported Asus had been forced to kill off its Transformer Book Duet TD300 due to strong opposition from Microsoft and Google.

The new notebook, which was announced at CES in January and was due to go on sale this month, allowed users to switch between Android and Windows 8 operating systems on the fly with one machine.

But it’s thought that neither software maker liked the idea, and so Asus abandoned it to avoid tarnishing its relationship with either one. One report claimed that Google felt dual-OS devices would only help Microsoft boost its market share.