Introduction

Huawei as a company has always been determined to provide the users with a holistic intelligent experience across all devices and scenarios. They have recognised the need to have an operating system of their own with improved cross-platform capabilities. This requirement was fulfilled by the company when they brought HarmonyOS into the picture.

Harmony OS is a microkernel-based, distributed operating system. It provides the users a smooth experience as well as a secure architecture. It also facilitates seamless collaboration across devices.

Why Huawei is switching to its own operating system?

By taking a 'single kernel across devices approach', Huawei aims to create a shared ecosystem of different devices. But there are certain reasons which specifically pushed Huawei to give HramonyOS a green flag.

US Ban on the venture

The recent US trade ban has made things worse for Huawei. The company can no longer offer Google’s apps and services on its latest devices. This reduces the value of the company as users will not be able to access their favorite apps.

Lost Access to Google

The trade ban on Huawei is largely affecting it because it has lost access to Google. All new Huawei devices were not able to access Google services on the official versions of Android. Not just Google they also lost apps likes Facebook, Amazon, Uber, eBay, and Paypal.

Road to 5G infrastructure is prohibited

The consequences of being on the US trade blacklist have sent Huawei’s 5G network and smartphone businesses into questionable condition. No nation in affiliation with the US will use Huawei’s 5G infrastructure for their networks. Countries like Sweden, UK, and many more have already put a ban on the expanding 5G infrastructure of Huawei.

Losing Collaboration from supporting brands

The escalated trade war with the US has led to global technology companies, including chip suppliers, and various other companies cutting off their ties with Huawei. Some of the well-known corporations that suspended their collaborations with Huawei are Alphabet Inc, Analog Devices Inc, Lumentum Holdings Inc, Panasonic Corp, US Chipmakers, and more.

Will Harmony OS be Beneficial for the Consumer?

The Chinese smartphone giant is said to launch Harmony in domestic PCs, smart wear products and automobiles, smart speakers and earphones by 2021, and then more devices. This will turn out to be fruitful for loyal Huawei users.

New option to choose from apart the Android and IOS

Our markets have a thing for options, which is now expanded with the entry of Harmony. Unlike Google and Apple, which use separate OSs for different types of electronic products, Huawei’s Harmony can be adapted for different devices and uses.
A large part of the difference between Harmony and the current market leaders, Android and iOS is the kernel. Kernels are the key of any OS and handle interactions with the underlying hardware, allocate resources, and define how programs are executed and operated. Android and iOS are based on monolithic kernels but Harmony has a microkernel that is more modular.

Distributed operating system

Huawei is aiming towards creating a shared ecosystem across devices from smartphones to smart speakers, wearables, and in-vehicle systems. Harmony OS is not limiting itself there in fact it will also be an open-source platform, so developers will be able to provide apps for the platform and other manufacturers of smartphones may even choose to use the operating system.

Harmony OS : An Easy Platform for Developers

IoT devices nowadays allow less storage and memory than even some good smartphones. This could be solved by one line of Harmony OS code rather than using 100 lines of code in Android. This will enable the developers to code their apps once and deploy them across multiple devices, creating a tightly integrated ecosystem across all user devices.

Why will it not be that easy for harmony to succeed?

Huawei has the talent, ambition, and a home market advantage but still, there are a lot of hurdles in the way of Harmony OS being successful. In terms of global achievements, there will be a few points in question for Huawei.

Trust issues

Huawei is still facing trust issues due to the US trade war and ban on various Chinese companies fearing theft of data. The allegations imposed will restrict users to share information like details of credit and debit cards etc. This in turn will affect the acceptance of the OS in the market.

Lack of google support & Resemblance of android

Google not supporting any OS with its associated applications is a disadvantage for the users who liked its applications. Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS have a stranglehold on smartphone operating systems, which will be difficult to change.

Expensive than before

It will be quite difficult for Huawei to maintain its premium pricing in the market without offering equal or more to the users. The cost of developing and setting up will directly affect the price of the devices. Huawei’s pricing ecosystem will change greatly as they have now lost their pricing advantage.