Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei launched an updated version of its self-developed operating system (OS), the HarmonyOS 3.0, on July 27, putting the firm on the fast track to shake off reliance on Google's Android, while also paving the way for it to recover from a hobbled handset business amid years of the US' ruthless sanctions.
Since its release three years ago, HarmonyOS has
continuously brought new functions and new experiences to consumers and has
become the world's fastest-growing smart terminal operating system, Yu
Chengdong, CEO of the consumer business group at Huawei, said on its Weibo
account.
Huawei smartphones were growing faster some few years back.
But the United States stepped in as the only vaccine that could stop the spread
of Huawei in 2019. So they did the needful and placed a ban on Huawei. This ban
stopped Huawei from working with any United States company without a license
from the US commerce department.
The Ban Gave Birth To Huawei HarmonyOS
This ban did hit Huawei hard especially in the global market
where Google services happen to be an addiction. Smartphone users in the Global
world find it quite difficult using a smartphone that does not have the Google
service on it.
Huawei was running quickly than any other phone manufacturer
in the world back then. But the lack of Google services made them stop running.
So they had to start walking. Walking didn’t seem to be what the United States
wanted for Huawei, they wanted to completely cripple the Chinese tech giants.
A few months after the ban, the US commerce department
imposed another ban on Huawei. This time around, you do not need to be an
American company in order to seek license from the American government to work
with Huawei.
You can even be a Chinese company, but as long as you are
using any technology that was made by the United States to work, you need a
license to work with Huawei. I think the United States did a lot of research in
order to come up with this new ban.
Huawei’s Business Began to Slow Down Despite Having Huawei
HarmonyOS
This ban was just enough to see the tech giant finally
cripple on its knee. Because no manufacturer is totally independent. You
definitely need one or two components from another companies or countries in order
to do your work.
But due to the second ban, Huawei could not have access to
their own chipset anymore. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC),
the company the produced Huawei’s Kirin chips is not an American company. But
some parts of their chip building processes used US tech. Hence, TSMC also
required a special license from the commerce department to keep producing the
Kirin chips for Huawei.
This forced Huawei to look for alternative solutions in
terms of chipsets. Luckily the US government opened the window for the Chinese
company to be able to use the Snapdragon chipsets. (But the main door remained
closed anyway). So Huawei got access to Snapdragon chips but only 4G models.
All 5G chips (The main door) still remained banned.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 4G chips may not look enough for any
company at this point. But it has given a little space for Huawei to keep
breathing. Huawei is gradually rising onto its feet not just because of the
Snapdragon chips it is currently using.
The most part of Huawei’s growing market has to do with its
new operating system, Huawei HarmonyOS. After the US ban, Huawei immediately
shifted their focus to the HarmonyOS operating system. They believed that the
nature of the OS could help them create an Ecosystem that won’t just sustain
its business but also bring other manufacturers on board.
From the reports that Huawei recently released, it looks
like things are going just as they planned for it to go. The HarmonyOS isn’t
just spreading to more Huawei devices but more manufacturers are also getting
on board.
Huawei launched the HarmonyOS 3.0 this year with a lot of
exciting new features. More fluency, better animations and more polished user
interface. According to reports, the Huawei HarmonyOS smartphone installations
has now exceeded 320 million.
This means that the HarmonyOS now has a growth rate of 113%
year over year. This also qualifies the Chinese Operating system as the third
largest mobile operating system in the world. Not just that, it is also the
fastest growing mobile operating system in the world now.
Another area where HarmonyOS seems to be expanding quickly
has to do with third-party installations. When Huawei launched the HarmonyOS in
2019, they made it clear that the new operating system is not just for Huawei devices.
They explained that HarmonyOS can be installed in third-party products such as
fridges, microwaves, smart bulbs, televisions and many more.
For this reason, the same report also claims that Huawei has
been able to achieve over 250 million third-party products installations of the
HarmonyOS. This accounts to a year over year increase of 212 percent. And guess
what? It does not end there. More and more third-party manufacturers are coming
on board. So expect to see different numbers next time.
Last but not the least, we have reports on Huawei’s app
marketplace, the App Gallery. It may look as though it does not exist to many
outside the shell of Huawei. But Huawei keeps investing in its app gallery.
It is reported that the Huawei App Gallery now has over
220,000 apps. This number is nowhere closer to the numbers from the Apple App
Store and the Google Play store. But it is still an outstanding achievement
owing to the fact the App Gallery is very new. As new as it may be, the App
Gallery still managed to serve over 580 million active monthly users.
Huawei HarmonyOS App Gallery Is Now Third Largest In The
World
This clearly shows how strong Huawei is and of course how
strong it fan base is. Huawei is a mega company, a rich company and a very
advanced technology company. Yes the US ban seems to have slowed down the
company. But as determined as they are, it would not be much of a surprise to
see them stand on their feet yet again.
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