HarmonyOS NEXT to Roll Out Globally in Slow Phased Launch

HarmonyOS NEXT, the HarmonyOS build that fully drops Android's base and arrived in 2024, is central to Huawei’s plan for a phased global rollout.

Huawei says it is preparing to introduce its in-house operating system gradually to markets outside China, though the company has not provided a firm timetable. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business and a Huawei executive director, confirmed the plan during a media roundtable and said, "We are exploring a gradual release of Harmony to global markets in the future. This is only our initial plan and we will proceed slowly and step by step."

Global rollout plan

The company has already deployed HarmonyOS across multiple Huawei devices in China and uses the platform on its smartwatches in international markets. Global Huawei smartphones continue to run EMUI, the Android-based user interface. Huawei has not specified which product lines or regions will be included in the initial international rollouts or when those rollouts will begin.

Ecosystem and strategy

Huawei presents HarmonyOS as an ecosystem that now covers more than 90 million active devices, 450,000 apps and services, 11 million developers and 23,000 software-innovation partners. The company says the operating system has played an important role in expanding its domestic supply chain in China and in reducing reliance on U.S. technology products.

Yu acknowledged the challenges ahead. "Developing an independent operating system is by no means a simple task. Large companies have tried this before; efforts such as Microsoft's Windows Phone, Samsung's bada OS and Nokia's Symbian all failed. Although we entered the field years after them, we managed to complete this path successfully. Achieving such an accomplishment is undeniably extremely difficult," he said.

With the unveiling of its global development plan, Huawei appears to be positioning HarmonyOS to compete with Android and iOS. While no precise schedule for migration has been announced, available signals indicate the company is preparing to phase out Android on its international smartphones in the not-too-distant future.