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Huawei CEO Richard Yu launches the Mate 30 smartphone range at the Munich Convention Center, Germany, September 19, 2019. REUTERS / Michael Dalder

Chinese phone giant Huawei launched Thursday, September 19 in Munich, Germany, its new high-end smartphone compatible with the 5G: Mate 30 and Mate 30 pro. Two models, which because of US sanctions, are not equipped with Google applications.

The new Chinese brand smartphone has neither the Google search engine nor the Play Store nor YouTube, so it is deprived of the US operating system Android. This new smartphone is equipped with Huawei Browse and Huawei Music Video, applications developed by the Chinese company.

For Washington has listed the Chinese giant on a blacklist with which US companies are prohibited from trading. The Chinese firm thus passes from the status of customer to that of rival of Google.

And to compete, it hits hard: Huawei announced an investment of over a billion dollars to help developers design applications for its own operating system HarmonyOS, presented in early September, but will not equip yet the Mate 30.

The goal is to make the general public less dependent on US applications. In the meantime, it will be difficult for the firm to sell its new models to Europeans, very used to American operating systems. The Mate 30 will be marketed next month from 800 euros.