Is HarmonyOS Next Huawei’s Answer to the Android-iOS Dominance? It’s a Big Ask, But We’re Rooting for It

We’ve found that there are a significant number of Huawei users in Zimbabwe. Huawei phones haven’t had the Google Play Store or the essential Google Play Services for years.

So, either Zimbabweans really love their Huaweis and are buying phones without Google services, or most of these people got their Huawei phones a while ago and have simply held on to them. I think it’s the latter.

When politics got Huawei banned from using Google services, they had to go back to the drawing board to build an alternative.

While Huawei couldn’t use Google services, Android is an open-source operating system, so they were free to use it. And that’s exactly what they did.

The operating system they developed, HarmonyOS, was built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This meant they could run Android apps (in addition to HarmonyOS-native apps) and maintain some similarities to Android in terms of functionality.

Essentially, HarmonyOS was just a modified version of Android.

HarmonyOS Next

Huawei is now fully moving away from Android.

HarmonyOS Next is an entirely new operating system built from scratch by Huawei, completely separate from Android and without any of its code.

HarmonyOS Next only supports native applications developed specifically for its platform, moving away from Android APK compatibility.

Just as Android is open-source, Huawei has its own open-source foundation called OpenHarmony, which serves as the base for HarmonyOS Next.

What HarmonyOS Next is all about

HarmonyOS Next is designed to work seamlessly across various devices, including smartphones, tablets, wearables, IoT devices, and even cars.

Huawei wants these devices to integrate as closely as Apple devices do. For instance, when using a Huawei phone and tablet, you can start reading an article on your phone and pick up right where you left off on your tablet.

This interoperability involves:

• Content: Pictures, videos, documents, and even web pages move effortlessly between devices.
• Settings: Changes you make on one device, like your wallpaper or notification preferences, automatically apply to the others.
• Notifications: See your phone’s messages and alerts on your tablet, and vice versa.

You would expect nothing less. Imagine this with your car and other IoT devices and you have an idea of Huawei’s ambitions.

Then there is performance. Early reports suggest HarmonyOS Next offers a smoother and more responsive user experience compared to previous versions.

Technical details

HarmonyOS Next has a fresh new look. Users can customize the lock screen and home screen more than before, and the control center has been redesigned. Apps launch faster, animations are smoother, and devices should feel more responsive overall.

It’s also smarter thanks to new AI features, we’re talking system-level AI based on the Pangu large language model.

Huawei says HarmonyOS Next makes devices 30% more responsive and uses 20% less power.

Sharing files between your Huawei devices should be faster with the new Huawei Share 2.0. They give an example of sending a 1.2GB file in about 8 seconds.

Finally, HarmonyOS Next should be more secure with the new Star Shield architecture.

Will this succeed?

The graveyard of failed operating systems that tried to compete with the Android-iOS duopoly is extensive. Some predated these two giants, only to be overtaken. R.I.P to Blackberry OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Tizen, and others.

Some of these still exist but have gone niche. Tizen failed as a smartphone OS, but it has found a place on Samsung TVs due to its cross-platform potential, similar to what HarmonyOS aims to achieve.

So, HarmonyOS faces an uphill battle to carve out a slice in the mobile OS space.

However, I think HarmonyOS has a better chance of success than past attempts. Huawei is a major player in China, even after the political challenges.

As of September 2024, Apple held the largest market share in China at 21.91%, with Huawei close behind at 19.06%. China is a huge market, and HarmonyOS already has a substantial user base there.

Globally, over a billion devices are already running the old HarmonyOS.

In the past, HarmonyOS benefited from Android compatibility, allowing it to run apps built for Android. Now that HarmonyOS Next requires native apps (.HAP files), Huawei faces a new challenge.

Other OS attempts failed to convince developers to build apps for them, and Huawei will face the same hurdle. Developers usually only join once there’s a substantial user base. While Huawei is performing well in China, it struggles internationally.

In China, where Google services are banned, success is more achievable. But for international growth, HarmonyOS will face difficulty as users in most regions rely on Google services. Long-term, HarmonyOS needs global success to avoid failure.

Global expansion will be tough due to ongoing restrictions in Western markets, which means HarmonyOS may only gain traction in regions more supportive of Chinese products, like parts of Africa and Asia.

This creates a “chicken and egg” problem: users won’t adopt the OS without apps, and developers won’t build apps without a user base.

Huawei Consumer Business Group Chairman Richard Yu reported that 15,000 apps and services are part of the HarmonyOS Next ecosystem, with more on the way.

That’s the challenge: 15,000 apps is minuscule compared to the over 2.1 million available in the Play Store and App Store.

Only time will tell if Huawei can solve this chicken and egg problem. If not, HarmonyOS, as promising as it is, will be toast.

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