• by Ray Schultz , March 8, 2021

Email marketers who already have numerous ESPs and apps to deal with may soon have another: Huawei, the Chinese smartphone company, is getting ready to launch an email service called Petal Mail.

Huawei is now testing the service, @petalmail.com, according to GizChina.

It would be quite a feat to knock over Gmail. But Huawei seems to feel it has no choice but to start the service, which apparently is being tested mostly with Chinese consumers. 

“After the ban on Huawei by the U.S., Huawei no longer has access to Google Mobile Services,” the article says. “This means that Huawei can no longer use the popular gmail.com. However, Huawei has been doing a lot to close the gap.”

GizChina adds that “Huawei Petal also has a virtual currency launched by Huawei’s consumer business.” It says “Huawei HMS has launched alternative Google apps such as petal search and petal map services.

Huawei has previously applied for a number of “petal” trademarks, such as petal payment and petal shop.

Another product called Huawei Mobile Services, already launched, “seeks to offer what Google Mobile Services does,” it adds. 

It is not yet clear whether the Biden administration will take a different approach than Trump toward China and these issues, or whether Petal Mail will catch on outside China or even within it. But for now, email marketers globally could be affected by geopolitics in a new way.