Huawei’s HarmonyOS Exhibited as an Android Alternative

Huawei has finally launched its new HarmonyOS software platform, which, it was at pains to point out, is not a competitor for the Android Operating System (OS), as it would be primarily rolled out to Internet of Things (IoT) and smart devices rather than smartphones. However, the impact of U.S. government sanctions on Huawei, owing to the ongoing issue of security, may see the company lose access to Google’s Android OS and related services, which could force the company’s hand and push the deployment of HarmonyOS to its smartphones.

At first glance, Huawei’s decision to create its own OS could be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the current trade war between the United States and China. The most significant aspect of the U.S. government’s directive that prevents any U.S. company from working with Huawei and supplying it with hardware or software has been Huawei’s loss of access to Google services and updates to the Android OS. Google Play and apps such as Gmail and YouTube are also set to disappear from future Huawei handsets available outside China, likely starting as early as the end of 2019, when new model updates are released. While this will have wide-ranging implications for the Chinese vendor’s smartphone business, and could be construed as a spark for this latest announcement, in reality, Huawei’s ambitions to build its own ecosystem have been brewing for a number of years (since 2017, according to Huawei) and the launch of HarmonyOS is a testament to this aim.

It should be noted, though, that following its unveiling Huawei stated that HarmonyOS will be primarily aimed at IoT products, such as smart displays, wearables, smart speakers, and in-car devices, instead of smartphones. In fact, with HarmonyOS positioned as an open source, "microkernel-based, distributed OS” designed for use on multiple types of devices, it is distinctly different from the target market for Android OS at present. Indeed, it will be more similar in functionality, providing greater competition to Google's upcoming Fuchsia OS, which is still in the experimental phase and being developed as a fusion of Android and Chrome OSs that will operate across a multitude of device types. However, this did not stop Huawei from suggesting at launch that HarmonyOS will be both faster and safer when compared with Android, despite the OSs having differing target markets for the present, although the company reckons it can instantly deploy HarmonyOS into its smartphones.

The initial HarmonyOS release has kernels from Linux and Huawei's older LiteOS (which is used on the Huawei Watch GT), with an update to a true version of HarmonyOS expected sometime in 2020. By this stage it should also be able to support high-performance graphics, extending its reach to devices such as in-car head units and Virtual Reality (VR) glasses.

Now that Huawei has revealed HarmonyOS, its next step is to develop the key components required to make the ecosystem around it commercially viable and attractive. For any ecosystem to be successful, integral components must be available at time of launch. Key to this success is the inclusion of a search engine, mapping and positioning services, an application store, a payment platform, cloud storage, and messaging. Huawei has been very busy incentivizing and educating the developer community about these components in the weeks leading up to the HarmonyOS announcement. It has also been working on developing its own mapping platform, which will be a fundamental milestone in building an ecosystem based on HarmonyOS.

Huawei is also believed to already offer some key developers the tools to easily port any application developed for Android OS (using Huawei's ARK compiler) or Apple iOS to its new HarmonyOS, including integrating applications with its new mapping platform. Moreover, due to the adaptive nature of the OS, app developers will only need to create their software once as it will then run across a variety of devices.

As many of these crucial building blocks for a successful OS platform have now been put in place by Huawei, it does appear that it is just a matter of when, not if, this ecosystem will be commercially available both in China and overseas. However, Huawei is expected to continue to support Android OS for its smartphones until such a time that it can no longer access Google's ecosystem, a dispute that, for the moment, is still unclear.

With Google revoking Huawei’s future access to Android services, HarmonyOS could potentially help Huawei retain crucial consumer services if it were to lose access to Google Maps and other U.S.-based applications. By introducing HarmonyOS as an IoT software platform for use across a wide variety of device types, not just as a smartphone OS, Huawei could also be considered to be making a wise move and distancing itself from direct comparison with Android for the time being. It may also potentially beat Google to the punch by being the first to create a shared ecosystem that works across multiple devices, something that Microsoft should have worked out years ago.

Crucially, Huawei already offers its own app services in China across the majority of its product portfolio, due to the lack of Google services available in the country, but these services have not been properly tested outside of China. There is no doubt that Huawei will target HarmonyOS at China first and use it as a test bed and Proof of Concept (PoC) before exporting the new ecosystem and mapping platform abroad. Once it gains success in China—which will essentially require the company to bring some unique applications and features that may otherwise not be possible to run over existing OSs or mapping services—Huawei will need to convince the rest of the world, notably it main clients, i.e., Mobile Service Providers (MSPs), of the uniqueness of its offering.

However, a new ecosystem created from scratch will take years to mature and appeal to the developer community (mainly outside China), despite the availability of app porting tools. Indeed, there is a long list of mobile device vendors that have tried, and subsequently failed, to develop their own apps ecosystems and OSs, notably those aiming to compete against Android, including Samsung’s Tizen OS. There is also no certainty yet that developers and users will be won over by the platform, especially those in the United States and the key European market, where it still has trust issues. Indeed, this is where Huawei could be challenged most as not only will it have to overcome the struggles related to building and developing a new mobile ecosystem, but it will also need to simultaneously rebuild its reputation and create consumer confidence in key target markets outside of China.