China’s national technology champion, Huawei, is set to unveil its first flagship phone capable of running its own applications on a fully native operating system.
The Mate 70 smartphone, launching on Tuesday, will operate on HarmonyOS Next, a system Huawei aims to position as the third major mobile operating system, alongside Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
This milestone highlights Huawei’s efforts to solidify its position despite U.S. sanctions designed to curb its growth. Notably, Huawei reported a 30% year-on-year revenue increase in the first nine months of 2024—a significant indicator of its resilience.
A turning point for China
The software debut of the Mate 70 builds on last year’s hardware breakthrough when Huawei introduced the Mate 60, powered by a homegrown processor capable of near-5G speeds—a feat many in Washington believed unachievable.
“This is an important milestone for China, driven by fears that the U.S. could cut everything,” said Paul Triolo, a technology expert at Albright Stonebridge Group, in an interview with The Financial Times.
U.S. sanctions, imposed in 2019, restricted Huawei’s access to Google mobile services, prompting the development of HarmonyOS. The initial version, based on open-source Android code, allowed Android apps to function on Huawei devices. However, the company has since been advancing HarmonyOS Next, which is hailed by fans as “Harmony native” or “pure blood Harmony.” This version requires app developers to rewrite their software to align with the new codebase.
Building a critical mass of apps
Creating a robust ecosystem of native apps is vital to the success of HarmonyOS Next. To achieve this, Huawei has been conducting online and offline bootcamps and offering crash courses for app developers since December 2023. These initiatives are designed to help programmers transition to the new platform seamlessly, according to sources cited by The Financial Times.
“We have teams to take developers by the hand and get them on board,” said a Huawei sales executive, speaking anonymously. The company has also set up on-demand support to address developer challenges.
The focus is on ensuring that China’s most widely used applications are ready for the launch. Huawei revealed that 15,000 local apps are already compatible with HarmonyOS Next, including must-haves such as Tencent’s WeChat, Alibaba’s Taobao, and Meituan’s food delivery app.
