Huawei won’t be releasing a HarmonyOS phone anytime soon, it appears.
The Chinese firm has decided to stick with Android for as long as it can – or at least for as long as the US will allow it to. The company recently unveiled its own cross-platform operating system, Harmony OS, but it will continue to build Android phones until the end of the year.
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What’s more, Huawei apparently has no plans to release a Harmony OS phone anytime soon. The Huawei P30 Pro-maker plans to solely continue releasing Android phones, in order to maintain “one standard, one ecosystem”, according to Huawei senior vice president Vincent Yang, who was speaking at a press event in New York yesterday.
According to a report by Cnet, Yang discussed future releases for the company, and hinted that an upcoming Huawei flagship – probably the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro – would run Android, rather than Huawei’s own much-discussed HarmonyOS.
Yang said it is unlikely that Huawei will launch a Harmony phone any time soon, but that if the ban is upheld the company will be prepared to make the leap at the last minute. While Huawei hopes to cling to the Android OS for as long as possible to maintain one single, cohesive ecosystem between its smartphones, “you never know”.
The Harmony OS operating system was designed after sanctions were put on the Chinese company earlier this year by the US government. The ban meant that Huawei wouldn’t be able to implement parts of the Android OS in any of its future devices.
Related: 5 things Huawei HarmonyOS needs to do to beat Android
While the climate has become a little less tense of late, the company has continued to develop Harmony OS, for us in other devices including Honor’s first smart TV and future Huawei smartwatches.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.