Huawei HarmonyOS Photo: VCG

Chinese telecom giant Huawei confirmed with the Global Times on Tuesday that it will formally launch its new operating system HarmonyOS for smartphones on June 2.

HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, is an operating system designed for various devices and settings. It was first launched on Internet-of-Things devices. The HarmonyOS has already been used on Huawei watches, laptops and home appliances over the past two years.

Ma Jihua, a close follower of Huawei, told the Global Times in a recent interview that there are possibilities for Huawei to overtake the industry giants with the arrival of 5G and ultrafast internet. Apple and Google are also endeavoring to upgrade their OS and adapt to the new era.

A demo video of the HarmonyOS is shown on Huawei’s smart screen at a chain shop of electronics retailer Suning.com on Chaoyang Road, Beijing on July 17. Photo: VCG

Aided by China's vast consumer market, a favorable testing environment and rapid deployment of 5G networks, it might be an opportunity for the Chinese tech giant to build HarmonyOS into the world's third-largest mobile ecosystem, after Apple's iOS and Google's Android, Ma told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Apart from leveraging Huawei to compete with international mobile ecosystem giants, the HarmonyOS is also of strategic importance for Huawei's goals in the car industry.

Over the medium term, the operating system plays a decisive role whether Huawei can build an AI plus Internet of Things (AIoT) ecosystem involving cars, human beings and the surroundings, domestic financial media jrj.com reported, citing a Founder Securities report.

Huawei reiterated on Monday in a statement that it does not make cars, and will not invest in any carmaker. The company said what the industry needs is its information and communication technology (ICT) capability instead of Huawei-branded cars. Huawei aims to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of cars to build better vehicles based on Huawei ICT, becoming a provider of digital car-oriented components.

Huawei expects the number of devices equipped with HarmonyOS to reach 300 million by the end of 2021, including more than 200 million Huawei devices, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Global Times