Will Huawei bring a unique evolutio...
16
04
Will Huawei bring a unique evolution to "non-smartphone" devices with "HarmonyOS"?
Huawei of China announced a number of new products in June 2021. Numerous products were unveiled, from wireless earphones to monitors, smartwatches and tablets, but most expected the flagship model of smartphones to be announced. But in reality, Huawei announced everything else.
Writing "everything else" may sound like Huawei has admitted losing in the smartphone space. But this time around, it might be better to interpret Huawei as fighting a race that could actually win outside of China. The same can be said for the OS "Harmony OS" released by Huawei against Android.
HarmonyOS, whose Chinese name is "Komen", was first released in August 2019. At the June recital, Huawei's Consumer Business Group CEO, Yu Chengdong, made a presentation.
You have taken a bold view of the integration between devices, from TVs to wearables, smartphones and smart glasses. According to him, HarmonyOS was ready to be distributed to Android devices via wireless (OTA). The timing was perfect. The restrictions on transactions with Google have just begun, and Huawei's latest flagship smartphone, the HUAWEI Mate 30 Pro 5G, was affected by those restrictions.
According to the explanation at the recital, HarmonyOS was also installed in Huawei's smart TV "Vision". However, at the time of 2019, the OS that could be installed in commercial smartphones had not yet been completed.
HarmonyOS was criticized
Let's return the hands of the clock until January 2009. At this time, a new beta version of HarmonyOS for smartphones was released in China. Published to a limited number of testers, it was almost the same as Huawei's Android interface "EMUI."
The beta version was criticized as "the second brew of Android with no new parts", and the feeling of believing in Huawei's ability to withstand the storm of "the world without Google" was the lowest in history at this point. The calendar wasn't integrated with Google Calendar, apps that required "Google Play Developer Services" such as "HBO Max" weren't available, and WhatsApp wasn't supported either.
In March, the foldable smartphone "HUAWEI Mate X2" was released. However, the OS was Android instead of HarmonyOS, and it was sold only in China. At this point, many felt it was time to give up on Harmony (not just Huawei smartphones for overseas markets) altogether.
