Huawei Technologies plans to launch its new Harmony operating system for smartphones on June 2 to try to repair the damage to its mobile phone business from U.S. sanctions. As Huawei will use its own operating system, it will no longer be reliant on Android. U.S. sanctions prohibit Google from providing technical support for Android on new Huawei phone models and access to Google Mobile Services on which most Android apps are based. HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, is an open-source operating system designed for use on various devices. It was first launched on Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, including wearables and tablets in August 2019. Huawei expects the number of devices equipped with HarmonyOS to reach 300 million by the end of 2021. Yang Haisong, Vice President of Huawei’s AI and all-scenario intelligence business unit, said that the Shenzhen-headquartered company will cooperate with app and hardware developers to use its latest operating system to provide new services for customers.
Analysts see HarmonyOS as an alternative to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. Chinese industries including home appliances, sports and fitness, travel, entertainment and education have welcomed the launch of HarmonyOS. Midea Group, a leading Chinese home appliances maker, last month announced that it would roll out some 200 new products running on HarmonyOS by the end of this year. But the new operating system will only go some way to mitigate the impact of the 2019 sanctions that also barred Huawei from accessing critical technology originating in the U.S., impeding its ability to design its own chips and source components from foreign vendors. Once the world’s biggest smartphone maker, Huawei now is ranked sixth globally with a 4% market share in the first quarter. The Trump administration had argued that Hauwei posed a threat to U.S. national security, a charge the company has denied. Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei last week called on staff to “dare to lead the world” in software in a bid to move into business areas that can’t be affected by U.S. sanctions, the Shanghai Daily reports.
According to the Global Times, the release of HarmonyOS marked “China's powerful entry into the software field that has long been dominated by U.S. IT giants like Apple and Google”. Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, said that the launch marks a "historic turning point", increasingly freeing China from U.S. restrictions on its tech firms and information industry. “It sends a signal that Chinese companies can fight their way out of the U.S. technological blockade as long as they insist on independent innovation, and that the so-called U.S. technology myth is not unbreakable like many people thought,” Zhang told the Global Times. “I think it's just a matter of time before China breaks through mobile chip technological bottlenecks, but the rise of the software business will help Huawei survive this period instead of being beaten down by sudden blows,” he added. Experts stressed that Huawei has found a new breaking point in smart solutions, software design and operating systems after its handset business was hit by U.S. sanctions.
Huawei's artificial intelligence business has flourished in multiple areas. It has recently partnered with China Telecom in equipping “intelligent mines” with applications like 5G video communication and remote control. It also recently registered a patent to be used in AI self-driving. A group of local tech companies has been actively taking part in the joint construction of a self-developed ecosystem with Huawei. For example, Shanghai-based smart city services provider Yanhua Smartech said in February that part of the company's software products are compatible with HarmonyOS. Huawei hopes that HarmonyOS might become the world's top operating system in about three to five years.
