(Yicai Global) Oct. 12 -- Google Mobile Services are set to be preloaded in Honor smartphones again after the brand, which split from US-blacklisted Huawei Technologies late last year, confirmed the apps and services will return in its Honor 50 series.

“Honor has succeeded in confirming cooperation with a number of supplier partners in the early stage,” the Shenzhen-based firm said on Twitter yesterday. The “Honor 50 series will be equipped with Google Mobile Services, which will provide a more comprehensive application environment and extraordinary mobile experience to our customers.”

The announcement follows reports several months ago that Honor was in Google's review process to ensure that GMS can run on Honor devices. Earlier this year, the company had said it was in talks with the California-based tech giant in hopes of resuming cooperation.

Google Mobile Services -- which include Google Play Store, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Chrome -- could not be preinstalled in new Huawei phones, which previously included Honor, after the Chinese telecom equipment giant was added to a trade blacklist by the US government in 2019.

To free it from US trade sanctions, Huawei sold Honor last November to a new firm set up by Shenzhen’s state-owned enterprises manager and more than 30 agents and distributors.

The now independent company is scheduled to launch its Honor 50 phones, already on sale in China, in Europe on Oct. 26.

Users in Europe and Asia depend on GMS, according to a developer. “If GMS is not preinstalled on new smartphones, users cannot receive emails from Gmail, access the internet with Chrome, download apps or buy credits of mobile games from Google Play,” he said.

Since departing the Huawei fold, Honor has started to focus on recovering its overseas business “Honor's overseas market share had dropped to almost zero,” Chief Executive Zhao Ming told Yicai Global in August, adding that the firm is focusing its efforts overseas this year.

Honor-branded phones have been unavailable in oversea markets for longer than in China, Zhao said, noting that the company had gradually restored business operations in over 50 countries.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Futura Costaglione