BEIJING: Chinese tech giant Huawei on Tuesday (Nov 26) launched its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system (OS), a key test in the firm’s fight to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.
Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are currently used in the vast majority of mobile phones, but Huawei is looking to change that with its newest Mate 70 devices, which run on the company’s own HarmonyOS Next.
The launch caps a major turnaround in the fortunes of Huawei, which saw its wings clipped by gruelling United States sanctions in recent years but has since bounced back with soaring sales.
“Today, the long-awaited Mate 70, the most powerful one ever, is here,” Richard Yu, executive director of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, announced during a launch event on Tuesday afternoon at the firm’s Shenzhen headquarters.
The risks are high – unlike a previous iteration, based on Android’s open-source code, HarmonyOS Next requires a complete rewiring of all apps on the smartphones it powers.
“HarmonyOS Next is the first home-grown operating system, a milestone for China to move away from reliance on Western technologies for software with performance improvement,” Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, told AFP.
But, “while Chinese firms may be willing to allocate resources to contribute to Huawei’s ecosystem, there are challenges to whether HarmonyOS Next can offer the same number of apps and functionalities to global consumers”, Ng said.
More than three million have been pre-ordered, according to the firm’s online shopping platform, though that does not require them to be purchased.
It goes on sale just after 6pm (6pm, Singapore time) on Tuesday evening.
“The search for a viable, scaleable mobile operating system largely free of Western company control has been a lengthy one in China,” Paul Triolo, a Partner for China and Technology Policy Lead at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge Group, told AFP.
But the new smartphone – also powered by an advanced domestically produced chip – shows Chinese tech firms can “persevere”, he said.
