GUANGZHOU, China – In mid-2019, Huawei launched its own operating system – HarmonyOS – in response to U.S. actions it cut from Google’s software.
This was the most advanced mobile software push by the Chinese technology giant, one he hoped would help his mobile device business survive.
On Monday, Huawei announced that HarmonyOS would start rolling out on its smartphones from April. Users would be able to download Huawei phone as an update.
A spokesman confirmed to CNBC that it would be possible for consumers outside of China to download. The company’s new folding device Mate X2, launched Monday, was one of the first to get HarmonyOS with other handsets to follow.
In 2019, Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S. so-called List of Units that prevented American companies from exporting technology to the Chinese company. Google cut links with Huawei as a result. That meant Huawei could not use Google enabled Android on its smartphones. That’s not a big issue in China where Google apps like Gmail are blocked. But in overseas markets, where Android is the most popular operating system, it was a big blow.
That move by the Trump administration coupled with sanctions designed to cut Huawei from critical chip supplies, has hurt the Chinese telecoms company’s smartphone sales.
Huawei needs to find a store of chip products for its smartphones. But HarmonyOS is the other “critical” part of ensuring Huawei’s smartphone business survives, according to Canalys analyst Nicole Peng.
HarmonyOS Development
Huawei throws in HarmonyOS as an operating system that can work across devices from smartphones to TVs. In September, it launched the second version of HarmonyOS and has been courting developers to make apps for the platform.
And with an eye on international users, Huawei redesigned the interface for the app store called AppGallery and improved navigation functions.
A guest holds his phone showing a photo taken at a Huawei press conference revealing its new HarmonyOS operating system in Dongguan, Guangdong province on August 9, 2019.
Fred Dufour | AFP | Getty Images
“AppGallery-related research will help a lot in terms of helping people find apps,” Peng said.
Also, Huawei will push the update to existing users which should help direct the usage of the operating system overseas.
Currently, Huawei AppGallery has more than 530 million monthly active users.
Smartphone challenges ahead
Apps are essential for mobile operating systems. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are the two strongest operating systems as they have millions of developers making apps for their platforms.
Huawei has a range of apps such as mapping and a browser under the banner called Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). HMS is similar to Google Mobile Services and offers developer tools that can be used to integrate things like location services into apps. HMS has 2.3 million registered developers worldwide.
And in China, it is able to bring popular apps on board.
However, in international markets, Huawei may face some challenges. For example, its app store misses key names such as Facebook or Google apps, which are important for overseas users.
“If Huawei wants to be successful in selling phones overseas, it needs the right applications, which are unlikely to reach HarmonyOS. So it is essential to get to Google Mobile Services again if it wants to to build an international phone business, “Bryan Ma, vice president of device research at IDC, said via email.
With Google Android and iOS gaining the upper hand outside of China, Huawei will also have the steep task of forcing users to switch.
“In terms of challenges, it is still in areas … (at least) it will be possible to accept the result with heavy users using, for example, Google apps and Google services,” Canalys ’Peng said.
At the same time, Huawei may not have the main supplies to make phones in the future due to the US moving to cut it off from chips. Huawei’s Mua X2 will use Huawei’s proprietary processor Kirin 9000. Richard Yu, Head of the consumer industry, said the company has enough production capacity for the folded phone even after last year’s warning that supply could run out.
That, coupled with the uncertainty of success with the operating system, is a major challenge facing Huawei.
“Huawei could continue to drive the Chinese local market without such concerns (about HarmonyOS apps), but there’s a much bigger question as it struggles to get components in the first place,” said Ma.