Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday said that its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones early next year, as it pushes to build an alternative app ecosystem after the US barred it from using Google’s Android.
Beginning in December, Huawei would make available the source code for HarmonyOS to software developers who create apps for smartphones, Huawei consumer products division head Richard Yu (余承東) said.
HarmonyOS is so far used only with certain products including smart TVs, in-car entertainment systems and wearable devices, but not the company’s smartphones.
Huawei is the No. 2 smartphone producer in the world after Samsung Electronics Co, but tech market analysis firm Canalys said that Huawei surpassed the South Korean company in the virus-affected second quarter.
Huawei is facing an intense campaign by the US to isolate the firm, saying it poses a cybersecurity threat. Huawei and China’s government deny the accusation.
The US has been pushing allies to shun products made by Huawei, which is also the global market leader for 5G and other telecom-network equipment.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and introduced a series of steadily escalating moves to cut off its access to computer chips and other technology it needs to survive.
Huawei’s HarmonyOS announcement was made at an annual software developers’ conference that it organized at its headquarters in Shenzhen.
The move indicates that Huawei intends to push ahead with plans to create its own ecosystem, a challenge analysts say is daunting in a world dominated by Android and Apple’s iOS.
Yu said he hoped that China’s huge smartphone market, the world’s largest, could remain a safe space and a platform for drawing global users to HarmonyOS.
“We are dedicated to introducing Chinese developers’ work to global consumers, hoping to see more TikToks in the future,” Yu said in a reference to the wildly popular Chinese-owned short-form video app that is also in Trump’s crosshairs.
Overseas developers would continue to find a large market among Chinese users through HarmonyOS, Yu said.
“We would like to be the bridge in between,” he added.
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