Huawei draws large consumer brands to run HarmonyOS, but Android smartphone rivals keep their distance
- Huawei has partnered with more than 1,000 hardware makers, 500,000 app developers and more than 300 service providers to support HarmonyOS 2
- Smartphone brand Honor, a former subsidiary of Huawei, is keeping its options open on the new mobile operating system
Huawei faces an uphill battle to convince other smartphone makers to change from Android to HarmonyOS over difficulties of “user conversion, compatibility issues and political risks”, which few vendors are willing to face, according to Chiew Le Xuan, an analyst at technology market research firm Canalys.
Vivo on Thursday said it had no information to share about HarmonyOS 2.
Xiaomi and Oppo did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
“Based on global consumer needs, Honor has the flexibility and independence to choose the best solutions for our global supply chain and secure mainstream chipsets, operating systems and other technologies that underpin our products,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “We are currently using the Android ecosystem, and will pay attention to the progress and development of the HarmonyOS ecosystem.”
“If Huawei continues to make its own handsets it means other Chinese smartphone companies are using their competitor’s operating system,” said Stewart Randall, head of electronics and embedded software at consultancy Intralink, about the US sanctions-hit company’s challenge to promote HarmonyOS.
By comparison, Google does not compete with smartphone makers in China that use Android, according to Randall. He indicated that Chinese smartphone makers will factor expenses because running two different mobile operating systems – one for the domestic market and another for overseas – translates to higher costs.
App developers, meanwhile, are expected to benefit from HarmonyOS, known as Hongmeng in Chinese, because of the lower costs associated with its use, according to Huawei.
When HarmonyOS 2 was available for download on Wednesday, many consumers rushed to try the system. One Huawei smartphone user, who declined to be named, updated his Mate 40 Pro handset and recommended others to update their devices, saying the switch took less than a minute to complete. “The transition was smooth and there’s little difference compared with before,” the user said.
But with Huawei losing market share in its home market and restricted by trade sanctions to get advanced chips and other components from US suppliers, many of the company’s own stores have fewer handsets currently available for sale.