Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies battled back against consumer worries at a major smartphone expo in Bangkok over the weekend, bringing in an army of salespeople to battle perceptions that a U.S. blacklist would hobble its phones.
Huawei’s promoters at Thailand Mobile Expo on Saturday (June 1) sought to assure customers that existing products would not be affected. Most Huawei phones run on Google’s Android operating system, and Google said it would no longer be able to provide software as a result of the U.S. ban.
“I’m worried that the old phone will not be able to get updates because of what had happened with Huawei,” said Theerapong Jitjareonmanee, an existing Huawei smartphone user whose concerns held him back from buying more of the Chinese firm’s products at the expo.