Huawei launches its first smartphone with its own operating system
November 26, 2024
Chinese company Huawei on Tuesday unveiled its first smartphone with an operating system it entirely developed, a major step in its drive to break the dominance of foreign tech giants in the sector.
The two operating systems currently used in most mobile devices in the world are iOS from Apple and Android from Google.
But Huawei, which is targeted by US sanctions, is seeking to reverse this trend with a new series of phones called the Mate 70, equipped with its own operating system, HarmonyOS Next.
"Today we are launching the long-awaited Mate 70, the most powerful phone ever," Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer division president, said at a conference at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, southern China.
The launch of this phone represents a major turning point for Huawei, which was paralyzed at one point by US sanctions imposed on it, but has witnessed a recovery in its sales over the past two years.
"This quest in China to come up with a mobile operating system that is viable, scalable and largely outside the control of Western companies has been going on for a long time," Paul Triolo, head of technology and China policy at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge, told AFP.
He added that the new Huawei phone, which is also equipped with a new generation processor designed and produced in China, is an indication of the perseverance of Chinese technology companies.
More than three million Mate 70 phones have been pre-ordered, according to Huawei's online sales platform, although that doesn't necessarily mean they've been purchased.
- Sino-American competition -
"HarmonyOS is Huawei's first innovative operating system," Natixis economist Gary Ng told AFP, and represents "a historic milestone in China's efforts to reduce its dependence on Western software."
Unlike previous versions that were designed with Android in mind, HarmonyOS Next requires apps to be adapted to it.
“Chinese companies are willing to invest to contribute to this new Huawei ecosystem, but whether HarmonyOS can deliver the same number of apps and features to consumers around the world remains a challenge,” said Gary Ng.
Huawei is in the midst of technological competition between China and the United States, which asserts without providing evidence that Chinese equipment is used for espionage purposes, while Beijing completely denies these accusations.
The confrontation is expected to intensify with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, as the Republican businessman has promised to significantly increase tariffs on imported Chinese products, in response to trade practices he considers unfair.
"This trend towards self-sufficiency in China's technology sector has made Huawei's advance possible," Toby Zhou, an analyst at market research firm Canalys, told AFP.
- "High expectations" -
He said the success of the new product would be a key indicator of whether the group's efforts were paying off.
"This new generation of products should not fail, because the expectations around it are high," he added.
Huawei was China's largest smartphone maker before the tech war between Beijing and Washington began.
In the third quarter of 2024, Huawei accounted for just 16% of sales in the Chinese market, or less than 11 million units sold, according to a Canalys report.
In September, the company unveiled the world's first triple-folding smartphone, the Mate XT, which retails for around $2,800.
The Mate 70 is expected to be priced more affordably, similar to its predecessor, which sold for around $750.
Whether app developers will invest in creating new versions that are compatible with Huawei's new system is not a foregone conclusion, according to Rich Bishop, director of AppInChina, a company that specializes in adapting foreign software to make it work in the Chinese market.
To convince them, “Huawei will need to continue improving its software, provide better support for developers, and convince them that it is committed to developing HarmonyOS for the long term,” according to analyst Paul Triolo.
