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Industry analysts predict that Huawei will launch a PC version of its HarmonyOS Next operating system before the end of this year. Evidence of this can be found on Huawei’s developer website, where an increasing number of images showcasing HarmonyOS running on PCs have been observed by jasonwill101, a HarmonyOS developer and user on X (formerly known as Twitter).
HarmonyOS is Huawei’s operating system designed for its smartphones and tablets. It was developed in 2019 as a response to the severe sanctions imposed by the United States, which resulted in Huawei being cut off from the Android operating system. While HarmonyOS is heavily based on the open-source version of Android (AOSP), it has been modified enough to enable Huawei to continue manufacturing its high-end smartphones.
HarmonyOS Next is a version of HarmonyOS that operates independently from Android. It does not rely on AOSP libraries and is unable to run .apk files. This move towards independence from US-based software is significant for the vendor. While HarmonyOS Next is not currently pre-installed on Huawei products, it is available as a developer sandbox for creating and testing apps specifically designed for HarmonyOS. Although HarmonyOS Next has not yet been released for PCs, leaked images indicate that it may soon be available, offering a new Chinese desktop operating system. The design of HarmonyOS Next for PC appears to take inspiration from MacOS, with a familiar status bar and dock bar combination at the top and bottom of the screen. The fullscreen, minimize, and close buttons are located on the right side of programs, similar to MacOS’s traffic light system.
Huawei’s recent emphasis on HarmonyOS has primarily been on smartphones. However, since HarmonyOS is an open-source platform similar to Android, Huawei is aiming for widespread adoption not only within its own phones but also in the broader Chinese market and beyond. Currently, HarmonyOS already holds a 16% market share in the Chinese smartphone market, and this is expected to increase in the coming years.
While Huawei is keen on directing its development efforts towards HarmonyOS for smartphones, the Chinese government, both at the local and national levels, has different plans. The regional government of Shenzhen, the city that connects Hong Kong to mainland China, recently introduced the “Shenzhen Action Plan for Supporting the Development of Native HarmonyOS Open Source Applications in 2024.” This action plan outlines various strategies aimed at promoting the adoption and development of HarmonyOS, with the specific objective of having Shenzhen account for 10% of all HarmonyOS products in China by the end of 2024.
Huawei and local governments, such as Shenzhen, are investing significant funds in the development of HarmonyOS. They have ambitious plans to create three million jobs in the field of HarmonyOS app development. China’s national government, as outlined in Document 79, aims to eliminate Western technology from all state institutions by 2027. In this regard, a robust HarmonyOS operating system for PCs would be a suitable solution. It is worth noting that HarmonyOS faces competition from other domestic operating systems in China, such as openKylin, which has gained attention for its native LLM support.