ALBAWABA - Huawei officially announced its departure from the Android operating system, starting a new era for the Chinese technology giant with the introduction of HarmonyOS Next, an entirely self-developed operating system set to establish Huawei as a rival in the smartphone OS market.
As Huawei continues to strive for technical sovereignty in the aftermath of US sanctions, It unveiled on Tuesday the Mate 70 series of smartphones that are equipped with the company's latest independent operating system, CNBC reports.
This next-generation operating system is completely devoid of Android code, in contrast to the previous HarmonyOS, which was built on an Android foundation. While this brings autonomy to Huawei, it means that Android apps will not function on the new OS, marking a challenge for Huawei in attracting developers to port their apps to a new system.
Huawei asserts to be making significant investments in developer engagement to address this, as reported by Android Authority. According to the company, more than 10,000 applications are now compatible with the new OS, and in a few months, the total number will rise to 100,000.
Huawei's Mate 70 series, Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro, and Mate 70 Pro+, is the first to support HarmonyOS Next, launching with Android-like. HarmonyOS 4.3. HarmonyOS Next will be released in a later update, enabling users to switch when ready, with plans to deploy all smartphones on HarmonyOS Next by 2025.
Starting at ¥5,499 ($759), the Mate 70 series has a relatively reasonable price tag, while the premium Mate X6 foldable costs ¥12,999 ($1,798). With more than 3 million pre-orders on Chinese e-commerce sites, the first demand seems to be promising for the challenged tech giant.
