Huawei Launches Harmony OS Globally For Its Ecosystem Of Devices, Can It Compete With Android?

Two years ago, after the US introduced the Chinese communications giant to a commercial negro-list, Huawei has released its own HarmonyOS mobile operating system on its phones.

The initial announcement was made in August 2019, when the big version 2.0 update comes out HarmonyOS will impact smartphones and tablets for the first time. In fact, with the software, Huawei has already unveiled a variety of new items.

HarmonyOS relates, but not precisely the same as, to the replacement for Google apps by Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), an effort being made to pass the Huawei ban by the firm.

According to sources, Huawei has debuted its own operating system, which is an update of the company’s proprietary HarmonyOS, on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Huawei, once the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, is currently placed 6th in the world, with a 4% market share in the first quarter.

It will no longer be dependent on Android due to the adoption of its own operating system. Google was barred from providing technical assistance for new Huawei phone models as well as access to Google Mobile Services, the collection of developer services on which most Android apps are built, as a result of US sanctions.

According to data from market research firm Canalys, Huawei, once the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, dropped out of the top five globally last year, being pushed away by Samsung of South Korea.

In terms of global sales, other Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo have since surpassed Huawei. Following a 50% reduction in smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, Huawei is now ranked seventh globally and third in China.

It was unclear whether new cellphones will be released at the same time as existing phones if there will be updates for existing phones, or how quickly the rollout will take place.

The new HarmonyOS will only go so far in minimizing the effects of the 2019 restrictions, which also prevented Huawei from accessing vital US-origin technologies, limiting its ability to create its own CPUs and source components from the United States.

In the fourth quarter of this year, Huawei stated that about 100 of its smartphone models will run the company’s proprietary HarmonyOS system, which would also be accessible on some tablets and smart TVs.

It might be difficult to popularise Huawei’s new Harmony OS. Challenges to dominant operating systems, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Samsung’s Tizen operating system, which is unpopular in the smartphone sector but is used in smartwatches, have mostly failed.

“It will be interesting to see what the Harmony OS user interface looks like and whether there are some features that give it a leg up with some users,” said Bryan Ma, vice president of client devices at market research firm IDC.

Huawei’s move to a smartphone-compatible mobile operating system, on the other hand, might open up a new revenue stream for the company by allowing other Chinese smartphone suppliers to list their apps on Huawei’s mobile services.

Sayed

Sayed is one of the authors who has been a part of Doms2Cents from the very beginning. He has expertise in comic books and is a huge Marvel fan. He has been working as a freelancer since 2019 and has now become an expert in the field and is a senior author at Doms2Cents.

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