Chinese smartphone firms will be able to use Huawei Technologies' HarmonyOS if blocked from Google Mobile Services (GMS), the company's chief executive of consumer BG, Richard Yu said in a recent statement as reported by Huawei Central.
Yu said at the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) last year the Chinese tech giant had invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build the ecosystem, reaching up to 80 percent of performance compared with AndroidOS, Chinese media reported.
The news comes just weeks after the world's largest provider of IT equipment announced plans to roll out HarmonyOS across its products, with over 100,000 software developers joining efforts to build the new ecosystem.
Firms such as Midea, Robam, and Joyoung will use the operating system in numerous appliances, and Huawei plans to install HarmonyOS on 100 million devices across 40 major brands, a China Daily report said.
But Beijing has vowed to build tech self-sufficiency to counter Washington's trade war, investing over $1.4 trillion in October to fund research and development into emerging technologies by 2025. Huawei also launched a "Go Global Ecological Alliance" in September to boost HarmonyOS along with a dozen Chinese tech firms, it was revealed at the HDC 2020.