HONOR 20 Pro release reportedly on hold over US-HUAWEI sanctions (Updated)

Update: May 24, 2019 at 10:46 a.m. ET: An HONOR spokesperson reached out to Android Authority regarding the claims below. The HONOR 20 Pro release date is still scheduled for July 2019, and HONOR will update us with more availability information once it has more details.

Original article: May 23, 2019 at 7:43 a.m. ET: HUAWEI subsidiary HONOR launched its latest smartphone earlier this week, the HONOR 20 Pro, expected to be released in early July. However, it may not ship on time thanks to HUAWEI’s current U.S. restrictions.

According to 01net (via WinFuture), the HONOR 20 Pro has not received Android certification, meaning it wouldn’t be able to be sold in the European market with Google’s services (like Play Store access and regular security updates). The device could still run with a forked version of the Android platform, but its lack of core Google apps and services would cripple its commercial appeal.

Google pulled HUAWEI’s Android license last weekend in compliance with recent U.S. sanctions placed on the company. This stripped HUAWEI of the ability to update its existing phones with new security patches or release new phones with Google’s app suite and services.

The U.S. government later granted HUAWEI a 90-day general license which, among other things, allowed it to continue updating its existing phones as usual. However, it appears this agreement either hasn’t been enough to cover the HONOR 20 Pro’s Android license or a separate problem related to the U.S. restrictions has gotten in the way of its release.

01net suggests that the HONOR 20, which was launched at the same event, has been certified and won’t be delayed. A future release date for the HONOR 20 Pro hasn’t been proposed.

This is an unconfirmed report, so take it with a grain of salt. We’re yet to receive an official comment from HONOR on the matter but we’ve reached out to both it and HUAWEI for more. We will update this story should we receive a response. Head here for more on the HUAWEI versus U.S. story so far.