Kevin Ho, president of Huawei’s smartphone division has said that the technology needed to run the company’s mobile operating system Harmony is ready, but it lacks an ecosystem, Technode reported. Speaking at TechCrunch Shenzhen 2019, Ho allegedly said that the company is working with software developers as it needs to perfect its OS by building applications for it.
Harmony, which was unveiled this August, is expected to become an alternative to Google’s Android system, which Huawei used before it was placed on a US trade blacklist prohibiting the world’s second largest cellphone producer from using services and working with US companies.
In an interview with business insider, Huawei’s Senior VP Vincent Pang said the company would decide in the next seven to nine months whether it will move forward with bringing Harmony OS to its phones. In October, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed Huawei officials, that it could take years before the company develops alternatives to Google’s services.
Due to a temporary waiver, consumers who use older models still can use Google apps on their devices, but Huawei’s latest flagship Mate 30 doesn’t feature any of Google’s services.
Huawei has been positioning Harmony as an all-in-one platform that will enable software developers to build one app that will run on all of Huawei’s devices. Kevin Ho reportedly said that at the moment the Chinese giant has no plans to release future gadgets running on Harmony. The operating system is only featured on Huawei’s televisions – Vision, Honor Vision, and Honor Vision Pro.
The US ban on Huawei is part of a bitter trade dispute between the United States and China, with both sides imposing multibillion-dollar tariffs on each other's products. The trade spat has upset markets around the world and affected the global economy. President Trump called the Chinese tech titan a threat to US national security and claimed that it is using its devices to spy on customers at the behest of the Chinese government. Beijing and Huawei deny these accusations.
