It’s been a while since we last mentioned Huawei’s very own mobile platform here. Officially known as Harmony OS (Hongmeng OS in Chinese), this platform is what the top Chinese OEM decided to replace the Android OS with. Huawei’s relationship with Google has turned sour, no thanks to the US trade ban called by the Trump administration last year. It’s been over a year since Google decided to cut ties with Huawei. The latter has then been forced to use an alternative so it could still respond to the demands of the mobile consumers.
It’s no secret that it’s not only Huawei that is affected. A number of other companies, manufacturers, and even American firms are experiencing changes not just because of the pandemic but because of the US restrictions. At the moment, Huawei is working hard to keep the business by coming up with alternative solutions–suppliers and technologies included. The company is said to be struggling these days and is in the process of stockpiling components.
Earlier this month, we noted Huawei may have to exit the smartphone business if restrictions persist. We don’t know what will really happen but we believe Huawei isn’t giving up, at least, not yet. Huawei is doing everything in its power including still releasing software updates to Android phones eligible for such. It’s been evaluating inventory and delaying the production of parts. Its Honor sub-brand is moving away from Kirin processors and is switching to MediaTek.
Huawei has also started to work harder on the Harmony OS. A new version of the Harmony OS will be released on September 10 during the 2020 HDC Developer Conference. A slew of new Huawei products is also expected to be introduced in the coming months. These new products will be equipped by Harmony OS (Hongmeng) and not Android.
Hongmeng 2.0 may be ready soon. Compared with the Hongmeng 1.0 OS which is only available on smart screens, the new version may be used on other products like watches, bands, automotive, and computers among others. This too will still be used on Huawei phones. This means future smart devices from the company will run on Harmony OS from smartwatches to PCs to tablets to phones and IoT products.
Huawei executive Yu Chengdong said the Hongmeng OS may become a global operating system in the future. Huawei is still thinking of ways on how to go around the US sanctions and restrictions. In the next few months, Huawei will still introduce flagship products like the Huawei Mate 40 powered by a Kirin 9000 processor which offers more powerful AI, CPU and GPU, and 5G capabilities. Next year may be different though as the September 14 deadline is happening.
The Harmony OS is being improved in several areas. Huawei has been working on an HMS ecosystem. Huawei is looking for this ecosystem to serve the company’s 700 million active users and some 1.6 million registered developers. The HMS Core 5.0 is now available covering App Services, Media, Graphis, Smart Device, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Security, and System.
