Huawei Harmony

Huawei’s new OS, originally called HongMeng but now called Harmony, is being released as an open source platform.

The first use by Huawei will be in smart TVs but it can be used across the spectrum of electronic devices from IoT to computers.

It is suggested that Huawei is considering putting Harmony in a Mate 30 smartphone this year but Huawei seems to be waiting to see what the White House decides about the availability of Android.

The official Huawei line is that it wants to stick with Android but will use Harmony both as a Plan B, if it is stopped from using Android, and as a means to put pressure on the US not to stop it using Android.

Huawei can act quickly on this. The head of its consumer business, Richard Yu, says: “We can implement Harmony any time.”

The head of Huawei’s consumer business software, Dr. Wang Chenglu, says Harmony could be rolled out in “one to two days”.

The aim seems to be to follow Japan’s TRON strategy of the ‘80s – to produce an OS which can be used in all electronic devices.

“To encourage broader adoption, Huawei will release HarmonyOS as an open-source platform, worldwide,” says Yu, adding “Huawei will also establish an open-source foundation and an open-source community to support more in-depth collaboration with developers.”