Chinese tech giant Huawei opened the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) 2024 in the city of Dongguan in southern China on June 21, by launching the new Beta version HarmonyOS NEXT, an all-scenario operating system for developers. The HarmonyOS ecosystem covers a diverse range of products including smartphones, smart wearables, tablets, headphones, smart driving vehicles, and smart home solutions.
“HarmonyOS NEXT is a fully self-developed, independently controllable operating system originating from China,” said Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s Consumer business group chair, at the event.
Why it matters: HarmonyOS NEXT is entirely independent of Google’s Android system. The kernel of HarmonyOS NEXT, the most critical part of the operating system, has cut its ties with the Linux system altogether, the company professed.
Details: HarmonyOS NEXT Beta version has been promoted to developers since June 21 and will be released to consumers in August, according to Huawei.
- Yu announced that the upcoming flagship smartphone Huawei Mate70 series will be the first device to come with HarmonyOS NEXT pre-installed in the third quarter, while the firm’s other smart devices are expected to come loaded with HarmonyOS NEXT version in the fourth quarter.
- HarmonyOS, released in August 2019, has undergone four generations of development. Currently, the Harmony ecosystem includes over 900 million devices, with 2.54 million developers actively contributing to its development, Huawei claimed. Additionally, the monthly volume of API (Application Programming Interface) calls for application development has reached 82.7 billion, the company said.
- HarmonyOS NEXT needs to strengthen its native app ecosystem due to the discontinuation of support for Android applications. HarmonyOS native applications have entered a full-scale sprint phase, with over 1,500 apps launched and 5,000 apps under development.
Context: Huawei developed its own operating system, HarmonyOS, due to US sanctions restricting its access to Google’s Android that took hold in 2019. This move aimed to ensure independence and provide a viable alternative for its global smartphone market.
- In the first quarter of 2024, Huawei’s HarmonyOS surpassed Apple’s iOS, becoming the second largest operating system in the Chinese market after the Android system, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research. HarmonyOS’s market share in China has risen from 8% in the first quarter of 2023 to 17% in the same period of 2024, while iOS’s share decreased from 20% to 16%, the report said.
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