Huawei action could be blessing

From a distance, some of the things Donald Trump says and does are amusing. But the head of the most powerful country in the world can turn your world around in an instant.

So, thousands of South Africans who have helped make Huawei the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the country are wondering what the future holds for them after Trump, in effect, blocked any US technology from being supplied to the Chinese company.

This means that Google’s Android operating system will no longer be supported on Huawei devices. There is talk that Huawei is working on its own operating system, which will end the dependence on American technology.

The Americans say Huawei products effectively spy for the Chinese government and while we have no way of saying whether that is true (or just another way of conducting trade by other, unfair, means), we do find it ironic that the biggest tech spies on the planet are American.

Google itself and Facebook have troves of consumer information – and even know exactly where you have been – which they unscrupulously sell to advertisers. That’s why you get bugged by electronic spam.

If the Huawei action leads to greater choice and freedom for consumers, how bad can that be?

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