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Huawei Technologies Co expects up to 300 million devices will run its HarmonyOS 2 mobile platform this year. Photo: Reuters

Huawei draws large consumer brands to run HarmonyOS, but Android smartphone rivals keep their distance

  • Huawei has partnered with more than 1,000 hardware makers, 500,000 app developers and more than 300 service providers to support HarmonyOS 2
  • Smartphone brand Honor, a former subsidiary of Huawei, is keeping its options open on the new mobile operating system
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co’s opening salvo for its HarmonyOS mobile platform to go mainstream, helping the telecommunications giant overcome US trade sanctions, has drawn thousands of partners, but also delivered a stiff reality check – none of its major Chinese Android smartphone rivals are on board.

Huawei faces an uphill battle to convince other smartphone makers to change from Android to HarmonyOS over difficulties of “user conversion, compatibility issues and political risks”, which few vendors are willing to face, according to Chiew Le Xuan, an analyst at technology market research firm Canalys.

At the online launch of HarmonyOS 2 on Wednesday, Richard Yu Chengdong, the chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business group, said the company has partnered with more than 1,000 hardware makers, 500,000 app developers and more than 300 service providers, enabling the company’s mobile operating system to run on more smart devices than those on Google’s Android.
Some of the partners announced by Huawei on Wednesday include Chinese home appliances manufacturers Midea Group, Joyoung and Supor, television maker Skyworth, consumer drone giant SZ DJI Technology Co and Swiss watch producer Tissot.
The top Chinese Android smartphone vendors Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo were not mentioned at the launch, which showed how HarmonyOS 2 differentiates itself from Android and Apple’s iOS by being designed to work on a wide range of Internet-of-Things devices as well as smartphones.

What HarmonyOS 2 means for the Google and Apple duopoly

Vivo on Thursday said it had no information to share about HarmonyOS 2.

Xiaomi and Oppo did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The stakes are high for Huawei, which has targeted up to 300 million devices running HarmonyOS 2 this year. The company’s former subsidiary Honor is keeping its options open.

“Based on global consumer needs, Honor has the flexibility and independence to choose the best solutions for our global supply chain and secure mainstream chipsets, operating systems and other technologies that underpin our products,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “We are currently using the Android ecosystem, and will pay attention to the progress and development of the HarmonyOS ecosystem.”

Shenzhen-based Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment maker and formerly China’s biggest smartphone vendor, has been one of the major casualties of rising US-China tensions. It is now struggling with tighter restrictions imposed last year, covering access to chips developed or produced using US technology, from anywhere.
Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei Technologies Co’s consumer business group, leads the online launch of the company’s HarmonyOS 2 mobile platform from Shenzhen, in southern Guangdong province, on June 2, 2021. Photo: Xinhua
Huawei, which was put on the US blacklist in May 2019, has made heavy investments in the development of HarmonyOS in a bid to shield its smartphone business from trade restrictions as well as to compete against other major Chinese Android smartphone vendors.

“If Huawei continues to make its own handsets it means other Chinese smartphone companies are using their competitor’s operating system,” said Stewart Randall, head of electronics and embedded software at consultancy Intralink, about the US sanctions-hit company’s challenge to promote HarmonyOS.

By comparison, Google does not compete with smartphone makers in China that use Android, according to Randall. He indicated that Chinese smartphone makers will factor expenses because running two different mobile operating systems – one for the domestic market and another for overseas – translates to higher costs.

Huawei pitches HarmonyOS to Internet-of-Things market

App developers, meanwhile, are expected to benefit from HarmonyOS, known as Hongmeng in Chinese, because of the lower costs associated with its use, according to Huawei.

When HarmonyOS 2 was available for download on Wednesday, many consumers rushed to try the system. One Huawei smartphone user, who declined to be named, updated his Mate 40 Pro handset and recommended others to update their devices, saying the switch took less than a minute to complete. “The transition was smooth and there’s little difference compared with before,” the user said.

But with Huawei losing market share in its home market and restricted by trade sanctions to get advanced chips and other components from US suppliers, many of the company’s own stores have fewer handsets currently available for sale.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: rivals shun Huawei’s new mobile platform
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