A shopper tests Huawei’s HarmonyOS products at a store in Beijing. [Photo by Mao Xuqian/For China Daily]
Huawei Technologies Co’s self-developed HarmonyOS operating system is expected to see wider application in China as it made progress in optimizing system performance, but more efforts are needed to build a robust software ecosystem for it , experts said Thursday.
His comments came after Huawei released an updated version of its proprietary HarmonyOS 3 operating system on Wednesday night, as part of its broader push to counter US government restrictions.
Xiang Ligang, CEO of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecommunications industry association, said that HarmonyOS shows a positive development trend, and large-scale upgrades have also been carried out for Huawei’s old models, which they reflect the company’s capacity for innovation.
“For the survival of an operating system, it is crucial to see how consumers respond to it. Although there are doubts, the overall feedback on HarmonyOS is so far, very good,” Xiang said.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s Device Business Group and CEO of the company’s Automotive Intelligent Solutions business unit, said that more than 300 million of the company’s devices have now been equipped with HarmonyOS 2, making it the fastest growing operating system in the world.
Meanwhile, more than 170 million third-party products equipped with HarmonyOS Connect for the Internet of Things have also shipped out of factories to retailers across China, Yu said.
The latest version of HarmonyOS offers an improved experience in aspects such as good performance, privacy and security, Huawei said.
HarmonyOS was first introduced in August 2019, after the US government restricted Huawei’s access to Google’s Android operating system. But Huawei has stressed that HarmonyOS is not a replacement for Android. Instead, it’s a next-generation operating system designed for the IoT era and aims to deliver a seamless experience across devices.
HarmonyOS has already been used on a wide range of devices, including smartphones, computers, tablets, smart watches and smart appliances such as ovens. Huawei also developed a car version of HarmonyOS for electric vehicles that it co-produced with Chinese automaker Seres.
Xiang Jiangxu, vice president and chief technology officer of appliance maker Midea’s IoT business, said HarmonyOS covered “almost all categories of our products” (about 200 varieties) last year.
Yin Dong, a Beijing-based software developer who has been using HarmonyOS tools to develop mobile apps for months, said he is optimistic about the operating system’s future, but more efforts are needed to build a more vibrant software ecosystem focused on around HarmonyOS.