March 15 (UPI) -- Controversial Chinese phone maker Huawei said it's developing its own operating system in case access to Apple or Android software is cut off in the future.
Richard Yu Chengdong, Huawei's consumer group chief, said Thursday the tech company has already developed a proprietary operating system for Huawei devices -- although its cellphones now use Google's Android technology. He said the new system would be used by Huawei computers and cellphones if China-U.S. trade tensions -- or more conflict between Huawei and the U.S. government -- prevent the company from using U.S.-developed software in the future.
Apple's iOS and Android are presently the two dominant systems in worldwide smartphone use.
"We have prepared our own operating system," he told Germany's Die Welt. "Should it ever happen that we can no longer use these [U.S.] systems, we would be prepared. That's our plan B. But of course we prefer to work with the ecosystems of Google and Microsoft."
Huawei began building its alternative to Android's operating system last year after a U.S. investigation of Huawei and fellow Chinese phone maker ZTE. Authorities said ZTE violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea, which led to a ban on the sale of U.S. parts and software to ZTE.
Huawei is currently banned from entering the U.S. cellphone market, and last week announced a lawsuit that seeks to dismiss a ban on selling products to agencies in the United States.
"We don't expect to use [the backup systems], and to be honest, we don't want to use them," a Huawei spokesperson said. "We fully support our [U.S.] operating systems. We love using them and our customers love using them. Android and Windows will always remain our first choices."