It is no secret that Huawei has been working on an alternative operating system. The Chinese company has recently been in troubled waters. Huawei was banned in the U.S and even Google banned the device from accessing its ecosystem. The new report sheds light on the first smartphone with Huawei’s new HongMeng OS.

Huawei is expected to showcase the HongMeng OS at the developer conference on August 9th in Dongguan. Initially HongMeng was thought to be a smartphone OS, however, the company clarified and said the OS is primarily designed for IoT devices and Honor Smart TV’s.

According to Global Times, a HongMeng OS smartphone is in the making and is already being tested. Furthermore, the first smartphone with HongMeng OS is expected to debut alongside Mate 30 Pro flagship which will be launched by the end of this year. That being said the HongMeng OS is expected to power an entry-level smartphone.

The report also claims that the new platform is superior when it comes to protection and handling of personal data. Interestingly, Huawei seems to be using the HongMeng OS as a bargaining chip. Huawei warns that it will be forced to extend HongMeng OS to smartphones if Google cuts off the supply of its OS to the company.

It all started with Trump administration putting Huawei to the ‘entity list.’ This move severely restricted the business US companies could do with Huawei. The ban was soon followed by Google blocking Huawei’s access to Android update, a move that put millions of Huawei smartphone users in the lurch. However, Trump recently said that the US government is planning to revoke the ban and Google can continue to supply its OS to Huawei.