China’s Huawei Technologies is planning to launch its new Harmony OS for smartphones on June 2.
The move is aimed at recovering from the damage done by US sanctions to its mobile phone business. The use of its own OS means Huawei will no longer be reliant on Android.
US sanctions banned Google from providing technical support to new Huawei phone models.
Analysts have indicated that Huawei may also launch new smartphones at the same time, or some updates to existing models.
However, the new HarmonyOS will only go some way to mitigating the impact of the 2019 sanctions that have also barred Huawei from accessing critical US technology, impeding its ability to design its own chips and source components from outside vendors.
Once the world’s biggest smartphone maker, Huawei now is ranked sixth globally, with a four percent market share in Q1.
The founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, earlier called on his company’s staff to dare to lead the world in software.
An internal memo from Ren said the company is focusing on software because future development in the field is fundamentally outside US control and Huawei will have greater independence and autonomy.
