From batteries and solar panels to drones and satellites, China is building tech capabilities that extend well beyond AI, writes Steve Feldstein in his new book, "Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Big Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare."
Chinese manufacturers such as Honor and Xiaomi have Chinese and Global versions of their handsets. My Honor Magic V5 runs Android based MagicOS and has access to Google Play and other Google services. Huawei phones sold here still come with AOSP? based EMUI, I’m not positive on whether it has Google Play and other Google services or not*, but you can install them using packages such as MicroG.
* Wikipedia says not:
On 14 July 2026, Huawei unveiled EMUI 16 alongside the Pura 90s Pro and Pura 90s Pro Max at a global launch event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[43][44][45] Based on Android 16, it launched in international markets without Google Mobile Services.[46][47][48]
Sorry, I meant for big businesses like Microsoft and then the major cloud providers. I do hope the world wises up and develops their own solutions in the future. US companies are not to be trusted.
Alibaba is basically an alternative to AWS nowadays, but Chinese companies really do need to close the gap on the desktop and create alternatives for productivity apps. I’m hoping once China starts getting serious about it, they’ll build on existing open source solutions and we’ll get a boost for the Linux ecosystem overall.
A great example of this is the US sanctioning Chinese companies forcing them to make a better version of corning/gorilla glass known as Kunlun.
Where they haven’t made many inroads is software. Unfortunately, US tech companies still dominate the world. Hoping this will end sooner than later.
Chinese phones are actually fairly popular outside western countries, and they have Chinese app ecosystem on them.
Chinese manufacturers such as Honor and Xiaomi have Chinese and Global versions of their handsets. My Honor Magic V5 runs Android based MagicOS and has access to Google Play and other Google services. Huawei phones sold here still come with AOSP? based EMUI, I’m not positive on whether it has Google Play and other Google services or not*, but you can install them using packages such as MicroG.
* Wikipedia says not:
Sorry, I meant for big businesses like Microsoft and then the major cloud providers. I do hope the world wises up and develops their own solutions in the future. US companies are not to be trusted.
Alibaba is basically an alternative to AWS nowadays, but Chinese companies really do need to close the gap on the desktop and create alternatives for productivity apps. I’m hoping once China starts getting serious about it, they’ll build on existing open source solutions and we’ll get a boost for the Linux ecosystem overall.