A report from The Information (subscription required) claims that Huawei is building its own in-house OS as a possible "Plan B" to Android. To spearhead the development of an in-house operating system—and improve its Android skin—Huawei has hired former Apple designer Abigail Brody. The report says that the non-Android OS "isn’t far along" and is a "contingency measure" in case Google's current Android terms become undesirable to Huawei.

Huawei is the number three smartphone OEM, behind Samsung and Apple. The Chinese company isn't a huge deal in the West, though—a big portion of those sales come from Huawei's home turf. Huawei is often seen as being in a position similar to Samsung's, just at an earlier stage of development. Like Samsung, Huawei is a massive company. It's the world's largest telecom equipment manufacturer, and it designs its own SoCs. Now Huawei is taking another page from the Samsung playbook and is trying to develop an Android alternative.

Samsung's homegrown operating system is Tizen, a Linux-based OS that works a lot like Android (especially Samsung's Android phones) but lacks the app ecosystem and developer support of Android. That's the challenge with creating an Android alternative—can you make something that's so much better than Android that the lack of apps becomes acceptable for consumers?

After the failure of Windows Mobile , Google pretty much has a monopoly on operating systems that are licensable to third-parties. Developing an in-house OS is fine as a bargaining chip during Android contract negotiations, but a new OS with no apps won't resonate with customers when Android is available from every other OEM. Tizen hasn't been able to compete with Android on smartphones, but Samsung has used it almost exclusively on smartphones and other "smart" electronics that don't have much of an established app ecosystem.

Huawei usually makes great hardware, and it built the Nexus 6P for Google. When Huawei is left to its own devices on the software front, though, the results are usually disastrous. Consider the Huawei Honor 5X UI, pictured above. If you get one in gold, the entire interface is naturally rendered in a matching metallic gold motif.

The Information spoke to Brody and she said she's addressing “glaring cosmetic issues” and “pain points” in Huawei's skin. Brody said she believes Huawei can be “the world’s No. 1, the most advanced and favorite ‘lifestyle-centric’ ecosystem, and without having to copy Apple at all, ever!"