Android having pulled out long ago, Huawei set to launch own jazzed up HarmonyOS

Shanghai: Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday said its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones early next year, as it pushes to build an alternative app ecosystem after the US barred it from using Google’s Android.

The source code for HarmonyOS will be made available beginning in December to software developers who create apps for smartphones, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer products division.

HarmonyOS is so far used only with certain products including smart TVs, in-car entertainment systems and wearable devices, not the company’s smartphones.

Huawei is the number-two smartphone producer in the world after Samsung, but tech market analysis firm Canalys said Huawei surpassed the South Korean company in the virus-affected second quarter.