Launch event of Huawei's HarmonyOS NEXT on October 22, 2024 Photo: China Media Group

China's first domestically developed mobile operating system (O/S), HarmonyOS NEXT, Huawei's native mobile O/S, was officially released on Tuesday. This marks the world's third major mobile O/S following Apple's iOS and Android, media reported.

The core of Huawei HarmonyOS is self-developed, which gets rid of the dependence on Android and means it can develop the domestic ecosystem independently, Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry observer, told the Global Times on Tuesday. Ma participated in Huawei's launch event.

"The completely independently developed O/S enables all enterprises cooperating with Huawei to carry out corresponding development according to their own needs, without being restricted by other aspects," said Ma.

According to the introduction at the new product launch conference, the previously released HarmonyOS, due to its system base that still utilizes some codes of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), had to be compatible with some Android applications.

However, the newly released HarmonyOS NEXT has achieved a fully self-developed system base, realizing the self-reliance and controllability of the domestic operating system. At the same time, the system's fluidity, performance and security features have been significantly improved.

Huawei's HarmonyOS NEXT realized independence in development, design, security and other aspects, which not only enhances its technical strength but also provides a new direction for the development of the domestic O/S sector, Zhang Xiaorong, director of the Beijing-based Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Zhang noted the difficulty of independently developing an O/S - building the ecosystem. "A strong application ecosystem must be built to attract many developers and users, which requires long-term investment and multi-party cooperation," said Zhang.

According to media reports, there are more than 15,000 apps and meta-services launched on HarmonyOS NEXT, covering 18 industries, and general office apps have covered more than 38 million enterprises across the country.

HarmonyOS NEXT reduces the difficulty and cost of accessing the new system, having improved the fluency by 30 percent, and many apps are iteratively updated once a day, per reports.

"The newly released HarmonyOS NEXT is at the forefront of the industry in terms of battery life, security and privacy protection. Currently, the apps that are launched on the platform are updated almost daily," Richard Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive director and chairman of the board of directors of the consumer business group, said during the conference.

Yu said that HarmonyOS NEXT has realized the interconnection of multiple devices and scenarios such as mobile phones, tablets and car cabins.

Currently, the number of devices supporting HarmonyOS has exceeded 1 billion, with 6.75 million registered developers. At the same time, Huawei has conducted cooperation with more than 300 universities across China to accelerate technology research and development and iteration speed, according to Yu.

Launched in 2019, the HarmonyOS was first applied to Huawei smart screens and began to be applied to Huawei mobile phones in 2021.

In the first quarter of 2024, HarmonyOS maintained a strong growth trend, and its global market share exceeded 4 percent, according to statistics from Counterpoint, a global technology market research firm.

In the Chinese market, thanks to the popularity of Huawei's flagship products, HarmonyOS' market share was 17 percent in the first quarter, and Apple's iOS market share was 16 percent, which means that the market share of HarmonyOS surpassed that of iOS for the first time to become the second-largest O/S in the Chinese market, said Counterpoint.

The application ecology of HarmonyOS is maturing and the large-scale commercialization of HarmonyOS is imminent in 2024, which is expected to drive a large number of app software manufacturers to adapt, migrate and develop, Zhongtai Securities said in an analysis report on October 13.

Global Times