tech2 News StaffJun 02, 2021 12:56:58 IST
Huawei is launching its own HarmonyOS mobile operating system on its handsets as it adapts to losing access to Google mobile services two years ago after the US put the Chinese telecommunications company on a trade blacklist. The launch event will begin at 2 pm CST on 2 June, which 00.30 am IST, 3 June.
Join us tomorrow at 14:00 CEST for the announcement of something brand new! You won’t want to miss it.#LiveSmartWithHuawei pic.twitter.com/MnWuYqCn3f
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) June 1, 2021
Besides unveiling its new operating system, Huawei will also launch the new AMD Ryzen 5 4600G SoC-powered Huawei Mate Station S laptop today.
The Huawei Wired Keyboard With Fingerprint is the perfect companion alongside the #HUAWEIMateStationS, always providing a comfortable typing experience.
Learn more: https://t.co/OSaoXuftiE pic.twitter.com/3DcHWqLMLp
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) May 27, 2021
Get things done at lightning speed with help from the AMD Ryzen™ 5 4600G Processor with Radeon™ Graphics on the #HUAWEIMateStationS.
Learn more: https://t.co/OSaoXuftiE pic.twitter.com/EoVrulrQ73
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) May 31, 2021
Huawei has already teased a bunch of details about the Mate Station S, including its 23.8-inch FullView display and 90 percent screen-to-body ratio.
Whatever you choose to do, get the full view. The 23.8-inch FullView display on the #HUAWEIMateStationS has a 90% screen-to-body ratio, so you will always see the bigger picture.
Learn more: https://t.co/OSaoXuftiE pic.twitter.com/FNnTWVdiEQ
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) May 26, 2021
Similar to the new Mac keyboard, the new Huawei keyboard will also come with a fingerprint authentication button.
Power on your #HUAWEIMateStationS and log in with a single touch on the HUAWEI Wired Keyboard With Fingerprint.
Learn more: https://t.co/OSaoXuftiE pic.twitter.com/KW2X6NF8rF
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) May 29, 2021
The company is still cut off from essential American technologies including Google’s mobile services and some computer chips needed to power its devices after the US put it on an entity list, saying Huawei might aid China’s espionage efforts — an accusation the company vehemently denies. Huawei’s inclusion on the entity list restricts American companies from doing business with the Chinese telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker. The blacklist has been a critical blow for Huawei, which has relied on essential technologies from the US.
Once the world’s largest smartphone maker, Huawei fell out of the top five list globally last year, nudged aside by South Korea’s Samsung, according to data from market research firm Canalys.
Other Chinese smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo have since overtaken Huawei in terms of global sales. Huawei currently ranks seventh globally and third in China, following a 50 percent drop in smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.
Last November, Huawei also sold its budget Honor smartphone brand as it sought to cushion the impact of US sanctions.
Why HarmonyOS?
Huawei’s HarmonyOS smartphone rollout is a workaround for its lack of access to Google services, especially for smartphones that it sells abroad. While handsets that were sold prior to Huawei’s blacklisting continue to run Google services, its newer devices will have no access to Google’s mobile services or updates.
To solve this problem, Huawei launched its own Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) platform that lets developers launch apps for Huawei devices. In March, Huawei said that over 120,000 apps were now on its app store and using HMS, although it is still missing apps popular overseas such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Owners of Huawei phones who have no access to Google services won’t be able to download apps such as Gmail or YouTube. Instead, HMS offers shortcuts to the mobile sites of such services.
Google is blocked in China, so Huawei users in China are unlikely to be affected by this. But the lack of access to Google services makes Huawei a less attractive choice for overseas users, who are used to watching videos on YouTube or using the Gmail email app, analysts say.
Attempts to popularise Huawei’s new HarmonyOS may be an uphill task. Attempts to challenge dominant operating systems have usually fallen flat, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system and Samsung’s Tizen operating system. It is unpopular in the smartphone world but is used in smartwatches.
“It’ll be interesting to see what the Harmony OS user interface looks like and whether there really are some features that give it a leg up with some users, but I’m not holding my breath,” said Bryan Ma, vice president of client devices at market research firm IDC.
“It still comes back to all the discussion that’s been happening over the past couple years which is, if there’s no Google services that’s, that’s a big problem,” he said.
However, Huawei’s move to a mobile operating system that can run on smartphones could give it a new business model of distributing it to other smartphone vendors in China that might be keen to earn revenue by listing their apps on Huawei’s mobile services.
“HarmonyOS might be quite appealing to vendors who don’t have the resources to build their own OS,” said Nicole Peng, vice president of mobility at market research firm Canalys.
With inputs from The Associated Press
