The custom Cafe Bazaar detection layer: routing Huawei users away from incompatible GMS APKs into the dedicated HMS hub.
Enterprise Partnerships & Crisis Management
Rescuing Market Share from the GMS Sanctions Crisis
Role: National Rep → Senior PM
Product: Huawei Mobile Services (HMS)
Tech: HMS SDK, Device OS Detection API
Sanctions stripped Google Mobile Services (GMS) from Huawei devices overnight. Essential super apps crashed, and hardware sales dropped. As the sole liaison between Huawei and the country's top tech companies, I ran the technical and strategic rescue.
Typical response time: under 24 hours · Confidential and direct · Relevant inquiries only
1st
Iranian app deployed on Huawei AppGallery
100%
Market confidence restored among importers
Millions
Users auto-routed to HMS-compatible apps
Promo
Elevated to Global Senior Product Manager
01. The Problem Space
A Hardware Business Built on Borrowed Software
Losing Google Mobile Services to international sanctions wasn't a software glitch. It was an immediate threat to a multi-million-dollar hardware distribution business.
Snapp (the country's most-used super app for ride-hailing and daily errands) started crashing on every new Huawei phone. Without Google Maps and Google Play Services, local apps couldn't render locations or push notifications.
Market share dropped fast. Regional sellers and importers began refusing to stock Huawei devices because customers were returning them. As the National Representative for HMS, I was the one point of contact holding a hardware business together while it waited on localized software compatibility.
02. The Strategy
C-Level Diplomacy Meets API Engineering
The Dual-Pronged Rescue Mission
I had to bridge Huawei's global engineering capabilities with the localized technical roadmaps of the region's biggest tech companies, acting at once as negotiator, technical product owner, and crisis manager.
The goal: first, stop the bleeding by working directly with Snapp's CPO, CTO, and CMO to replace hardcoded Google APIs with Huawei's native SDKs. Second, secure long-term usability by partnering with Cafe Bazaar on a frictionless app-discovery path for non-GMS devices.
03. The Architecture
Engineering the Non-Google Ecosystem
A technical overhaul turned Huawei phones from broken to fully supported, using custom detection infrastructure and localized cloud services.
Step 1 — The Snapp SDK Overhaul
I was the single point of contact between Huawei and Snapp's leadership. We integrated Huawei Location Kit and Map Kit in place of the broken Google equivalents and shipped a stable, HMS-native version of the super app.
Step 2 — OS Detection Infrastructure
Users couldn't be expected to figure out compatibility on their own. Working with Cafe Bazaar, I specified a backend detection service: when a user opened the store, it read the device string and identified whether the phone was GMS-enabled or HMS-only.
Step 3 — The Dedicated Huawei Hub
Once an HMS phone was detected, Cafe Bazaar routed the user to a custom landing page that listed only apps vetted for HMS compatibility, removing download friction and crash reports at the source.
Step 4 — The AppGallery Milestone
Building on the Snapp integration, I led the deployment to Huawei's native AppGallery: the first Iranian application published on the global Huawei store, and the reference implementation every local company that followed used.
04. Visuals
The Ecosystem in Action
Snapp running natively on a Huawei device, using Huawei's Map Kit and Location Kit APIs in place of Google's.
The AppGallery milestone: Snapp listed as the first local application on Huawei's global marketplace.
05. The Outcomes
Restoring Trust at Scale
Driving technical solutions at the executive level turned a hardware business at risk of collapse into a functioning, independent software ecosystem.
Market Confidence Restored
Fixing the top daily-use apps restored trust with major device importers and sellers, saving the hardware distribution pipeline.
Zero-Friction UX
The Cafe Bazaar detection layer kept millions of Huawei users from ever downloading an incompatible app, protecting brand loyalty.
Executive Recognition
For managing the crisis and delivering the region's first AppGallery integration, I was promoted to Senior Product Manager within Huawei's global organization.
Next Step
Need a PM who works well under real pressure?
Complex API migrations, market-share rescues, C-level partnership negotiations: I deliver in high-stakes environments. Let's talk about your product challenges.
No spam · Typical response time: under 24 hours · Confidential and direct · Relevant inquiries only