Huawei announced the HarmonyOS Next operating system, which it developed completely independently of Android, with the new Mate 70 and foldable Mate X6 smartphone models. This move is considered as part of the company’s strategy to reduce its dependence on US-based technologies in both hardware and software.
The Mate 70 series will be available in the Chinese market on December 4. This series is the sequel to the Mate 60, which was Huawei’s first phone to use processors entirely produced in China. Mate 60 is considered an important step in terms of showing the company’s capacity to develop its own processors, despite the trade restrictions imposed by the USA. However, while Huawei is expected to remain limited to 7 nanometer technology for the next few years, it is known that its rival Apple is making preparations to switch to 2 nanometer chip technology.
Huawei has long aimed to be independent in both hardware and software. The company announced its plans to develop its own operating system in 2012 and announced HarmonyOS in 2019. However, previous versions were based on open source codes of Android. With HarmonyOS Next, the company aims to offer an operating system completely independent of Android.
Despite Huawei’s claims of independence in chip production, allegations have recently been made that TSMC chips were illegally delivered to Huawei through a third party. The USA imposed trade restrictions on Huawei on the grounds that the company was trying to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile and violated Iran sanctions.
Huawei will continue to improve the HarmonyOS Next experience
Huawei states that HarmonyOS Next needs a few more months of development to improve the user experience. But the ultimate goal is to use this operating system on all future smartphones. Mate 70 models will be available at prices starting from $760. Pro versions of this model with a 6.7 inch screen size will be released at higher prices. Huawei promises a performance increase of up to 40 percent with the contribution of the new operating system.