Huawei Technologies’ home-grown mobile operating system, HarmonyOS, saw increased adoption throughout 2024 in mainland China, the world’s largest smartphone market, as the Shenzhen-based company prepares to launch a new handset powered by the platform’s latest version that does not support Android apps. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the domestic market share of HarmonyOS was ahead of Apple’s iOS in the three months ended December 31, when it reached 19%, according to Counterpoint Research. HarmonyOS’ fourth quarter share was up from 16% a year ago and higher than its 17% share in each of the three previous quarters in 2024. Still, Android remained the dominant mobile operating system on the mainland with a fourth quarter share of 64%, the same as a year earlier. Apple’s iOS had a 17% share last quarter, down from 20% a year ago.
Globally, Android continued to lead the industry last quarter with a 74% market share, followed by Apple with 22%, according to Counterpoint data. HarmonyOS, which is still only available on the mainland, remained flat with a 4 % quarterly share throughout 2024. The rising adoption of HarmonyOS in China reflects Huawei’s continued resurgence in the domestic 5G smartphone market, where it competes against major Chinese Android handset makers. Privately held Huawei last year saw strong smartphone sales growth, as it launched new models such as the Mate 70 series and introduced a series of price cuts. The company’s China smartphone shipments were up 24% year-on-year in the fourth quarter and 37% for the whole of 2024, according to Canalys.
U.S.-sanctioned Huawei led China’s smartphone market in January on the back of a government subsidy scheme that started on January 20. That program provided consumers with a 15% subsidy – capped at CNY500 per purchase – for buying smartphones, tablets and smartwatches that cost under CNY6,000. The smartphone subsidy scheme is likely to drive further growth for HarmonyOS, according to Counterpoint.
A few weeks ago, Huawei teased that a new foldable smartphone powered by HarmonyOS Next – the latest iteration of its mobile platform – would be launched on March 20. Over 20,000 native apps and services have been made available on HarmonyOS Next, with 20 applications exceeding 2 million downloads, the South China Morning Post reports.
