Tech war: Huawei sees HarmonyOS breaking the dominance of Android and Apple’s iOS in China

Huawei on Friday released to developers a beta version of HarmonyOS Next, which will end support for Android apps

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The adoption of HarmonyOS on the mainland has accelerated on the back of rapid growth in Huawei Technologies’ smartphone shipments. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:38pm, 21 Jun 2024

Huawei Technologies expects HarmonyOS to break the dominance of Western mobile operating systems in mainland China after its next version ends support for Android apps.

That iteration, called HarmonyOS Next, will be a “China-originated, independent and controllable” operating system, Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group, said at the company’s developer conference on Friday.

The Shenzhen-based company launched at the conference a beta version of HarmonyOS Next for developers, with a beta upgrade for consumers expected in August.

The mobile platform upgrade will be officially launched for commercial use on Huawei’s next flagship 5G smartphone series, the Mate 70, in the fourth quarter this year, Yu said at the conference.

Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Technologies’ consumer business group, speaks at the company’s annual developer conference in Shenzhen on June 21, 2024. Photo: Weibo

The latest announcements by Huawei show that it is trying to bolster HarmonyOS’ presence in the country, after unseating Apple’s iOS as the second-biggest mobile operating system on the mainland in the first quarter.

With HarmonyOS, Yu said that it took just 10 years for Huawei to achieve what its Western counterparts did over 30 years in building a new operating system.