If nothing changes in its relationship with Google, Huawei is ready to unleash its HarmonyOS on its smartphones in 2021. And from what was shared during a keynote by Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business at Huawei Developers Conference, the new OS may well hold its own against the well-established Android and iOS.

The China tech giant has been preparing for the final cut of its umbilical cord with Android since the US government ban.

Huawei has big plans for its proprietary operating system. HarmonyOS 2.0 will  not just be for smartphones but will be the heart of Huawei’s range of products — from smartwatches and wearables to tablets and laptops — as well as partners’ devices.

The beta version will be made available to interested partners developing the likes of car infotainment systems, smart TVs and smart watches.

Dawn of a new era

If any company can stand up to Google and Apple in this space, it’s Huawei with its sheer size, reach and resources.

Just as an indicator, AppGallery, its equivalent of App Store and Play Store, already houses 96,000 apps developed by a staggering 1.8 million developers in its Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem around the world.

The loss of a huge chunk of potential Android users because of the curb of technologies to Huawei may well turn out to be the beginning of a new era in the smartphone market specifically and the devices market as a whole.