UPDATE: Looks like the Huawei Mate 30 won’t let users unlock its bootloader

Oh boy, this is an interesting development. Previously, we reported based on an Android Authority interview with Huawei CEO Richard Yu regarding Huawei’s willingness to allow users to unlock the bootloader of the company’s brand new Mate 30 smartphones. However, today, it looks like that’s no longer the case.

In an updated statement sent to Android Authority, the website states that a Huawei spokesperson reached out to Android Authority to “clarify” the comments made by Richard Yu at the Mate 30 series launch regarding the bootloader. According to the “clarification” Huawei has “no plans” to unlock the bootloader on the Mate 30 series of devices.

This is pretty interesting since Richard Yu’s original statement to Android Authority seemed pretty cut and dry to me. Here’s his original quote as published by Android Authority:

We limited [bootloader unlocking] because we wanted to guarantee more security for consumers. But this time we will leave more freedom for the consumers so they can do more customization by themselves. So we are planning to let consumers do that.

Richard Yu, Huawei CEO

But, it looks like this is no longer the case. We’re not quite sure of the details surrounding this matter–whether it’s actually a change of heart or a misunderstanding somewhere–but this may pose a pretty big impact to a consumer’s purchasing decision. This is because it becomes much easier for consumers to sideload Google Services onto the device.

Initial reports have all pointed toward the phone not coming with Google Services and Google apps out of the box, so having this ability to sideload apps is pretty vital to many consumers. That being said, Huawei has been pretty tight lipped about the Mate 30 series’ software as a whole. The only concrete thing they said about the phone was that the device would come with Android 10 out of the box.

My guess is that it has a lot to do with the uncertainty around the US ban, but at this point your guess is probably as good as mine. What do you think? Does this affect your purchasing decision? Let me know in the comments below.

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