Huawei announces operating system update

Huawei Technologies, which sold 105 million smartphones in the first half of the year, says its HarmonyOS 2.0 operating system will support smartphones from next year.

It made the announcement at the opening of its developer conference on Thursday. 

Globally, Huawei has more than 1.8 million application developers and 490 million active users. The HarmonyOS 2.0 operating system and enriched applications and tools supporting various devices enable Huawei to establish its own ecosystem in the face of a strict technology export ban by US authorities. 

After the latest update, HarmonyOS 2.0 will support TVs, smart watches and cars from Thursday. It will support smartphones from 2021, Richard Yu, Huawei’s president of Consumer Business Group, said during the conference.

In the first half, Huawei’s consumer business generated revenue of 255.8 billion yuan (US$36.5 billion). The company will focus on “dual engines” on both hardware and ecosystem, Yu said.

Huawei also launched the latest update of Android-featured operating system EMUI, which can be upgraded to HarmonyOS  in some models.

The company launched and displayed various tools in its ecosystem, such as a mobile search engine, maps and navigation and payment. Huawei aims to provide an alternative option HMS for developers and users, besides GMS developed by Google. Huawei also promised to offer support for overseas developers.  

In 2019, Huawei announced plans to invest US$1.5 billion over the next five years to support 5 million developers by 2023, compared with 1.3 million a year ago and 1.8 million currently.

In August, the Trump administration announced further tightening of restrictions on Huawei, expanding those announced in May. They prevent Huawei from obtaining semiconductors without a special license or produced with US software or technology.