Chinese domestic operating systems (OS) are set for an explosive growth in 2024, as the sector's self-reliance efforts show effectiveness amid the intensified U.S. crackdown, industry observers said, and the coming of the Internet of Everything era, where Chinese firms have an advantage, will bolster that trend. Huawei's HarmonyOS will be one of the main OS to lead that growth, and it will take market share away from foreign counterparts, they said. According to a report by TechInsights, Huawei's HarmonyOS is projected to surpass Apple's iOS as the second-biggest OS in China. The report suggests that HarmonyOS is poised to achieve a milestone in 2024 with the commercial launch of HarmonyOS NEXT, a revised version that is not compatible with Android. Despite Huawei's previous challenges related to the supply constraints of the Kirin 9000s chipset, TechInsights anticipates a potential easing of these limitations in the coming months. This could lead to a solid recovery for Huawei in 2024, reshuffling the landscape of the Chinese smartphone OS market and challenging both Apple and Android manufacturers.
“The past year was extraordinary and marked the beginning of native HarmonyOS applications. Today, on the first day of 2024, we are entering a crucial year for the comprehensive evolution of the HarmonyOS ecosystem,” He Gang, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, said. The Shenzhen-based telecom firm launched HarmonyOS in August 2019, three months after Google stopped providing its suite of proprietary mobile software services to the company due to U.S. sanctions. Rather than being a replacement, the company stressed that the OS can also be deployed across multiple devices, including smartphones, computers and other electronic devices. “HarmonyOS was designed for the Internet of Everything era. It was launched earlier than expected in 2019 due to the U.S. sanctions, but this also helped the OS gain an early foothold in the highly competitive domestic market,” Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst and close follower of the company, told the Global Times.
In recent months, several major domestic internet companies and leading enterprises, including financial technology giant Ant Group, e-commerce firm JD.com, video gaming giant NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan, have announced plans to build new versions of their mobile apps based on HarmonyOS. On December 6, 2023, McDonald's China and Huawei announced that the McDonald's China app will adopt HarmonyOS NEXT, making it one of the first global multinational chain restaurants to join the ecosystem. Apart from Huawei's HarmonyOS, 2024 is poised to be a breakthrough year for the development of domestic operating systems in China, Zhang Hong, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times. Moreover, the rapid development and usage of smart devices in the nation is expected to enable Chinese companies to further outpace their global counterparts in the Internet of Everything era, the Global Times reports.
Meanwhile, Huawei Technologies has launched the new mid-range Nova 12 series of smartphones, which will run on its own operating system, HarmonyOS4. Huawei did not reveal details about the processor inside the new phones and its 5G capability. The basic Nova 12, the Nova 12 Ultra and Nova 12 Pro, range in price from CNY2,999 to CNY5,499. The two premium models have satellite connectivity. The models were out of stock within an hour after being available for online pre-orders on the company's website.
The latest smartphone moves by Huawei have been closely watched after the surprise August launch of the Mate 60 Pro, which is powered by a home-grown advanced processor, the Kirin 9000s. This was Huawei’s first 5G smartphone since U.S. trade sanctions barred the firm from accessing advanced American technology. An estimate by research firm Canalys put shipments of the Mate 60 series at 2.5 million units by November 7, with the premium Mate 60 Pro making up more than 60% of the volume. The new Nova smartphones are expected to intensify competition in the China market, which has been fierce since Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro and the release of the iPhone 15 in September, followed by Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 14 series model which achieved sales of 1 million units in less than two weeks since its October launch.
A total of 287 million smartphones are expected to ship in China in 2024, a 3.6% year-on-year increase, driven by a slightly improving economy and consumer appetite for better gadgets, according to IDC. It would be the first year-on-year growth in the market since 2021, the South China Morning Post adds.
