Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next operating system can compete fairly with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, something no other technology company has been able to do.
Huawei announced the HarmonyOS Next operating system in January, marking a significant departure from previous Android-compatible versions. This move signals Huawei’s determination to establish its own mobile application ecosystem, similar to iOS and Android.
By partnering with app developers to create apps specifically for HarmonyOS and fostering a new generation of programmers, Huawei is positioning itself as a significant player in the operating system market. The company has been working with Chinese universities since 2021 to train programmers.
It could have a major impact in further promoting the domestic technology industry. Huawei estimates that writing applications for HarmonyOS will create at least 3 million jobs. There are currently just over 380,000 HarmonyOS certified developers. Huawei is committed to training 100,000 developers every month through online videos and other means.
In February 2021, Wuhan University pioneered integrating HarmonyOS mobile application development courses into its curriculum, becoming the first school in China to do so. In the first semester, 30 students with majors in computer science, software engineering, and information management took the course.
“The starting salary of HarmonyOS developers is 30% to 50% higher than Android developers,” Ren Gelin, Chairman of Huawei’s OpenHarmony Project Management Committee, informed.
In 2019, US sanctions that forced Huawei not to use Android created an existential crisis for the Shenzhen-based company.
HarmonyOS, or “hongmeng” in Chinese, was conceived in early 2015. It was initially intended for the Internet of Things, such as autonomous driving and industrial automation, however, sanctions forced Huawei to increase accelerated and launched the first version of HarmonyOS in just four months. Like Android, HarmonyOS is developed on the open source Linux operating system.
Huawei now has the opportunity to achieve complete autonomy in chips, operating systems and applications, as well as benefit from both product experience and commercialization.
On February 22, at the Huawei Pocket 2 folding phone launch event, consumer division CEO Yu Chengdong revealed ambitious plans for HarmonyOS. Expected to undergo a major update this fall, the operating system could revolutionize Huawei devices, providing a 30% performance boost, smoother operation, and longer battery life.
Mr. Yu said the developer beta will appear in the second quarter and the consumer version in the fourth quarter. Internal sources share that the new Mate smartphone, released in the second half of the year, will have HarmonyOS Next pre-installed.
The success of the Mate 60 series, equipped with a Kirin chip made in China, helps Huawei build a solid user base for the upcoming operating system. According to market research firm GfK, Mate 60 sold 1.5 million devices in the first month of its release.
In the first six weeks of 2024, Huawei smartphone sales in China increased by 64% compared to the same period in 2023. Its market share increased to 16.5% and ranked second only to Vivo, according to data from the company. Market research company Counterpoint Research.
Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint, attributed this growth largely to the Mate 60 series with its loyal customer base and the successful launch of HarmonyOS.
Before Huawei, other tech giants tried to build operating systems to compete with Android and iOS. These are Microsoft’s Windows Phone in cooperation with Nokia, Samsung’s Tizen developed with Intel and Alibaba’s YunOS. All failed under the enormous challenges and financial burdens involved in creating and maintaining a new operating system in a market dominated by established players.
Even for a “giant” like Alibaba, investing in an entire team to develop an operating system is a huge cost, said Zhang Jianfeng, former Chief Technology Officer at Alibaba. Costs are a barrier to new entrants, he said.
Huawei estimates that the tipping point for HarmonyOS to succeed is when it captures 16% of the market. Once this threshold is exceeded, it may attract developers to write operating system-specific applications. The company achieved its target in the fourth quarter of 2023 when 16% of smartphones sold in China ran HarmonyOS. Globally, Huawei’s mobile platform holds nearly 4% of the market, compared with Apple’s 23% and Android’s 74%, according to Counterpoint Research.
Gong Ti, President of the software group at Huawei’s consumer division, has outlined a two-pronged strategy to strengthen HarmonyOS’s competitive position. The initial focus is to deliver more than 5,000 apps that account for 99% of users’ daily time spent on smartphones.
Reaching that milestone is critical for HarmonyOS to gain momentum and begin to establish a comprehensive software ecosystem, Mr. Gong said. Huawei then needs to expand the scope of the operating system to 500,000 applications to cater to a variety of customer needs and preferences.
Since September 2023, Huawei has promoted major domestic companies to develop applications for HarmonyOS. In late 2023, firms including video platform Bilibili, digital payments app Alipay, and game developers NetEase and miHoYo announced deals with Huawei to launch apps based on HarmonyOS NEXT.
At the launch of HarmonyOS NEXT, Mr. Yu introduced a list of more than 200 companies participating in developing applications based on the operating system. These include iQiyi, China Merchants Bank, Ctrip and Zhihu, in the areas of travel, finance, social media, work tools, entertainment and games.
Sharing with Caixin, some application developers said that Huawei’s mobile user base has middle to high incomes and is willing to pay more, this is a main reason for them to develop HarmonyOS applications. . However, some small developers have no plans to venture into developing applications for HarmonyOS in the near future, because the app market takes half of the revenue from games.
This model makes them choose distribution through popular payment and social media platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou and Alipay. The platforms allow users to interact directly with games, bypassing the need for downloads and subscriptions, a strategy that suits developers’ need to reach their audiences more cost-effectively. .
