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Huawei Technologies plans to introduce its Harmony operating system (OS), seen as its replacement for Google’s Android mobile operating system, on smartphones next year as it faces challenges in outsourcing chips.Huawei, which lost some of its market share in foreign markets due to the U.S. technology supply ban, did not disclose the specific timing of the availability of the much-hyped Harmony OS.
The company first introduced its HarmonyOS last year, which it has advertised as a multi-device platform on watches, laptops and mobiles, rather than as a similar competitor to Google’s Android mobile operating system, Reuters reported.
HarmonyOS can now match 70-80 percent of the performance characteristics of the Google Android operating system, a top company executive said earlier this week amid tighter US restrictions on the Chinese tech giant.
The CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, Richard Yu, said that if Huawei continues to face restrictions on the use of the Google ecosystem, HarmonyOS will gradually gain momentum and may eventually replace Android, according to a Global Times report.
Huawei became the world’s largest smartphone seller in the second quarter of this year, according to a report by Canalys.
The United States added Huawei to the list of entities in May last year, preventing Google from providing technical support for new Huawei smartphone models that use Android and Google Mobile Services (GMS), the suite of services for developers in the one that most Android apps are based on.
Harmony OS
Wang Chenglu, chairman of the software department of Huawei’s consumer business group, gave an update on Thursday on the company’s annual developer conference in Dongguan city, south China.
“The milestone we are setting is that we are supporting Huawei devices from Harmony OS 2.0, but at the same time, Harmony OS 2.0 may also be available for third-party devices,” said Wang. “Harmony OS 2.0 will be available to all manufacturers of hardware”.
Yu added that the company had opened a beta for smart TVs, watches and car infotainment systems to developers since Thursday, and plans to make it available for smartphones in December.
Google’s cut-off of Android support led the company to experience a drop in overseas smartphone sales. But Huawei achieved an increase in domestic demand for its smartphones. As a result, Apple and Samsung lost share of smartphones in China.
Its alternative to GMS is Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), which according to Yu is the third largest mobile application ecosystem in the world. Zhang Pingan, president of Huawei’s consumer cloud division, said foreign customers were accepting HMS and that sales of HMS-powered phones had “skyrocketed” since May.
Yu said the company shipped 240 million smartphones last year, earning it a second place in the market rankings in 2019, but added that software shortages had affected sales in recent months and shipments fell to 105 million units in the first half.
Chip crisis
The US Export Control Rule aims to block HiSilicon’s access to two crucial tools: chip design software from US companies, including Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, and manufacturing led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
With the new restrictions, HiSilicon “will be in a situation where it won’t be able to make chips at all,” says Stewart Randall, who tracks China’s chip industry at Shanghai-based consultancy Intralink.
In March, Huawei revealed that 8 percent of the 50,000 5G base stations it sold in 2019 did not have US technology, but instead used HiSilicon chipsets. HiSilicon develops chips primarily for Huawei.
“The development of HarmonyOS and HMS is fascinating. However, this development will require hardware to be delivered to consumers. The biggest challenge comes from the disruption of chip supply, “said Will Wong, an analyst at consultancy IDC.
