Huawei might launch its own OS as an alternative to Android.
A top company executive said the OS will be available as early as fall of this year or at the latest next spring.
A separate report says that the OS is “far from ready.”
Huawei may launch indigenously-developed OS as early as this fall, a top company executive has said. The announcement comes after Google cut off Huawei’s Android license saying that the Chinese tech giant won’t be able to use Android OS on its future smartphones. Reports say that the decision was taken after the Trump administration added Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist.
Richard Yu, Consumer Business CEO at Huawei, revealed that Huawei's operating system “designed for the next generation of technology will be available in the fall of this year and at the latest next spring.” The OS, which is reportedly under development since 2012, is “open to mobile phones, computers, tablets, TVs, cars and smart wearable devices,” and is “compatible with all Android applications and all web applications.”
While, Yu is confident of shipping the OS on time, The Information (via Forbes) has reported that the OS project “has had its ups and downs and remains far from ready.” Also, questions are being raised on Yu’s claims on app compatibility. “I can’t believe that the US government has limited Android. It’s a consumer product that has no relationship to network security issues,” The Information quoted Yu as saying.
The executive said that the US blacklisting came as a big surprise for the company and means “really a very tough time for the consumer business.” Reportedly, he also acknowledged that, unless the sanctions are lifted, it will be difficult for the company to hit its consumer business targets. According to market research firms Counterpoint Research and International Data Corporation (IDC), Huawei registered an increase in the global market share as well as smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2019.
Huawei became the second largest smartphone brand by shipments without a significant presence in an important market like the US. Samsung leads the market, and Apple closely follows the Chinese tech giant. The Huawei-Android issue could dethrone the company from the second spot and give Samsung much edge over its competitors. Huawei generated CNY 179.7 billion in revenue – an increase of 39 percent (YoY). The company's net profit margin in the quarter was about 8 percent, and it shipped 59 million smartphones in the previous quarter.
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