Huawei's HarmonyOS Will Beat the iPhone by 2024

In a report published on January 3, TechInsights predicted that although Google Android and Apple iOS continue to dominate the global mobile operating system market, the homegrown HarmonyOS platform will gain market share from both in its home market of China.

This is thanks to Huawei's return to the mobile market, starting with the surprise launch of the Mate 60 Pro in late August 2023. This device is equipped with an advanced 5G chip, "made in China" despite US sanctions.

Huawei is expected to make a strong comeback in 2024. (Photo: SCMP)

TechInsights also expects Huawei to perform strongly in 2024. Currently, all Huawei smartphones on sale run HarmonyOS, the company’s homegrown Android alternative that was launched in August 2019, three months after it was placed on the US Entity List. Being on the Entity List means the Chinese giant is banned from buying US-origin software, chips, and other technology without Washington’s approval.

The Mate 60 Pro has taken the world by surprise and sparked patriotic fervor among domestic consumers since its launch. Huawei faces supply chain issues as it races to meet market demand.

According to TechInsights, these bottlenecks for Huawei, mainly around the shortage of the Kirin 9000 chipset, could be eased in the coming months. The company expanded its product portfolio last week with the launch of several mid-range Nova smartphones.

HarmonyOS is expected to reach a new milestone in 2024 with HarmonyOS Next, which will not support Android apps. Huawei is expected to introduce a developer preview version of HarmonyOS Next in the first quarter of 2024 and is working with major Chinese companies to develop native apps based on the operating system.

Last month, fintech giant Ant Group said it was building a new version of its Alipay payment app based on HarmonyOS, after Alibaba began developing a version of its DingTalk collaboration tool for the platform. Several major internet companies including JD.com, NetEase, and Meituan are also hiring programmers to write native apps for Huawei’s operating system.

McDonald's China – a network of more than 5,500 restaurants and over 200,000 employees serving more than 1 billion customers a year – becomes one of the first multinational food companies in the mainland to use HarmonyOS Next.

It is unclear whether these efforts will have an effect on other smartphone manufacturers and make HarmonyOS the default operating system for smartphones, laptops, and cars in China.

According to a share in August 2023 by Huawei consumer division CEO Richard Yu Chengdong, more than 700 million devices were running HarmonyOS with more than 2.2 million third-party developers writing apps for the platform.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

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