Ever since Huawei was placed on the US Entity List, the company has been hard at work trying to find its footing, and for the most part it has. It pretty much ditched Android for its own mobile platform, HarmonyOS. Now, it looks like Huawei could be planning a global expansion for HarmonyOS.
Huawei planning global expansion for HarmonyOSÂ
For those unfamiliar, HarmonyOS is Huawei’s very own mobile platform, although the company does envision it to be more than that. However, its release is currently limited to China. Elsewhere in the world, Huawei devices still run EMUI or older versions of Android. But that could change.
According to Huawei VP and rotating chairman Xu Zhijun, Huawei is considering a global expansion of HarmonyOS. While we do not have a specific date yet, Xu said that the company plans to conduct pilot programs for HarmonyOS in select regions and countries. That being said, it could have its challenges.
This isn’t the first time Huawei expressed plans to take HarmonyOS beyond China’s borders. However, US lawmakers have urged the government and its allies to block it from happening. They believe HarmonyOS could be used for spying, especially since like we said earlier, the platform is more than just a mobile operating system. Huawei not only uses it for smartphones and tablets but also in vehicles and smart home devices.
What does that mean for Huawei customers?
At this point, it’s probably too early to tell how this could affect non-China Huawei device owners. However, if we were to look at how Huawei rolled out HarmonyOS in China, it could give us an idea.Â
Back when HarmonyOS first rolled out, it gave EMUI users an upgrade path. It was not restricted to newer devices. At the same time, it’s worth noting that Huawei has since moved on to HarmonyOS NEXT, which ditches Android completely. This makes it complicated for EMUI users to upgrade directly to HarmonyOS NEXT.
Instead, it is likely that current EMUI-based devices will get HarmonyOS 6 that acts as a transition. This should help with app compatibility. But like we said, a lot of the details are still up in the air, so we’ll have to wait and see.
The post Huawei Is Ready to Take HarmonyOS Global, Starting with Pilot Markets appeared first on Android Headlines.
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