Huawei launches own operating system applicable to mobile phones

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, unveils the HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, during the Huawei Developer Conference held in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, Aug. 9, 2019. Huawei launched its open-source operating system, HarmonyOS, on Friday as a potential alternative to Android should the Google's operating system be banned from Huawei mobile phones. (Xinhua/Zhou Ke)

SHENZHEN, Aug. 9 -- Huawei launched its open-source operating system, HarmonyOS, on Friday as a potential alternative to Android should the Google's operating system be banned from Huawei mobile phones.

HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, is a microkernel-based and distributed operating system designed for various devices and scenarios, said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, at the Huawei Developer Conference held in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province.

"It will be very fast and convenient to transfer the Android operating system to HarmonyOS if Android is not accessible anymore. It takes only one to two days," Yu said.

"However, Huawei mobile phones will give priority to Android considering the ecosystem and partners," Yu added.

Yu said HarmonyOS, as a lightweight, compact operating system with powerful functionality, would first be used in Huawei's smart screen products that will be launched on Saturday.

In the next three years, the system will be used in more smart devices such as smart watches and in-vehicle systems, according to Yu.

"We're entering a day and age where people expect a holistic intelligent experience across all devices and scenarios. To support this, we felt it was important to have an operating system with improved cross-platform capabilities," Yu said.

"We need an OS that supports all scenarios, that can be used across a broad range of devices and platforms, and that can meet consumer demand for low latency and strong security."

Yu said the development of HarmonyOS will depend on a dynamic ecosystem of apps and developers.

"To encourage broader adoption, Huawei will release HarmonyOS as an open-source platform worldwide," Yu said.

Huawei will also establish an open-source foundation and an open-source community to support more in-depth collaboration with developers, he added.