Beijing: Huawei’s operating system, HarmonyOS, can now match 70-80 per cent of the performance features of Google Android operating system, a top executive of the company has said amid tightening US restrictions on the Chinese tech giant.
If Huawei continues to face restrictions on using Google’s ecosystem, HarmonyOS will gradually gain traction and it will eventually be able to replace Android, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, told news site finace.sina.com, according to a report in Global Times on Monday.
During the ‘Huawei Developer Conference 2020’ from September 10-12, the company is likely to announce that it will use HarmonyOS in its mobile phones.
Huawei, which became the largest smartphone seller in the world in the second quarter of this year according to a report from Canalys, last year officially launched HarmonyOS.
“Since May 16, 2019, major chips and technologies from the US have not been available (to Huawei). But we have prepared for nearly 10 years to develop our own chips, software and supplies, so the first round of US sanctions was not a crisis for Huawei,” Yu was quoted as saying.
Huawei’s consumer businesses faced a tough time due to inability to use Google’s ecosystem in overseas markets.
The US on August 17 of this year tightened its restrictions so that Huawei cannot get access chips made with US technology.
According to a report in Taiwan-based DigiTimes, which cited industry sources, Huawei is expected to cut shipments of the flagship Mate 40 phone which is likely to be the company’s last smartphone to carry Kirin 9000 chips.
