Huawei looking to launch new operating system for phones

Huawei Technologies is set to launch its new Harmony operating system for smartphones next month, in a move that will be seen as a first step in its recovery from the damage caused by the imposition of US sanctions on its mobile phone business.

The HarmonyOS is seen as mitigating, to some extent, the impact of the sanctions that stopped the company from accessing critical US-origin technology, which has had a significant impact on its ability to design chips and source components.

The roll-out of its own operating system will mean that the company will no longer be reliant on Android. Due to US sanctions Google was unable to provide technical support to new Huawei phone models and access to Google Mobile Services.

Once the world’s biggest smartphone maker, Huawei has fallen down the ranks and is now listed as 6th globally with just a 4% market share in the first quarter of 2021.

According to reports from Reuters, the Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei has said that the company will be looking to focus on software in a bid to move into business areas that can’t be affected by sanctions, and that the company will also need to take a more “open source” approach to development and should be looking to try to attract more software experts from overseas as part of this proposed pivot.