Huawei to launch self-developed OS in Q3: sources

[TaiShang]

Huawei to launch self-developed OS in Q3: sources

Source: Gobal Times Published: 2019/6/7


Huawei is testing its own operating system, to be named "HongMeng OS" for the China market or "Oak OS" for the overseas market, which is likely to be launched in the third quarter of 2019, a source close to the matter told the Global Times on Friday.

Richard Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei's consumer business, confirmed earlier its "HongMeng OS" is likely to be launched this fall.

The system could be rolled out as early as August and September, according to sources.

Google announced on May 20 that it would cut suppliers with Huawei to comply with the export ban by the US government, but it later followed a decision by US officials to give the Chinese company a three-month grace period, which the Chinese company said doesn't mean much.

Industry analysts cautioned that Google's supply cut to Huawei might hurt the company in the short term, but would force the company to reduce reliance on foreign tech giants like Google, and will reshape the current software market dominated by US companies.

It seems that Google has already felt the threat from Huawei's quick shift, according to media reports. Financial Times reported on Thursday that Google warned that if the US administration moves ahead with its sweeping ban on Huawei, it risks compromising national security.

Google in particular is concerned it would not be allowed to update its Android operating system on Huawei smartphones, and would prompt Huawei to develop its own version of the software, FT reported, citing people close to Google's lobbying efforts.

Huawei has been working on its own OS for years as an insurance policy in case of losing access to US technologies such as the Android system, while the move has been picking up significantly as US intensified its global ban on the Chinese tech giant.

Huawei has filed several applications with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for trademarks for the OS and other software.

http://en.people.cn

 

[Piotr]

I planned to buy Huawei smartphone (with Kirin processor) this month, but I will wait till Huawei comes with own OS. Good luck Huawei !

 

[Feng Leng]

Can I root my Oak OS?

 

[Dungeness]

Huawei's "Ark OS" is getting Google really worried.

Google says cutting us off from Huawei is a security risk | Fox News

 

[riscol]

Google argues the Huawei ban would hurt its Android monopoly

The Trump administration would probably describe its Huawei export ban as a move that improves national security by keeping China's pet telecom company out of the US market. According to a report from The Financial Times, Google's recent discussions with the US government actually argue that the Huawei ban is bad for national security. Google is reportedly asking for an exemption from the export ban.

The argument, reportedly, is that Huawei is currently dependent on Google for its Android smartphone software, and that dependence is a good thing for the US. The Financial Times quotes "one person with knowledge of the conversations" as saying, "Google has been arguing that by stopping it from dealing with Huawei, the US risks creating two kinds of Android operating system: the genuine version and a hybrid one. The hybrid one is likely to have more bugs in it than the Google one, and so could put Huawei phones more at risk of being hacked, not least by China.”

Today, non-Google Play versions of Android exist in China, but it's rare that any of them are significantly different from a Google version of Android beyond the pre-loaded app selection. Chinese manufacturers are still global smartphone distributors, so they all build Google-approved Android OSes for the non-Chinese market. What usually happens is that a single OS goes through the Google testing process, then it gets split into two versions. Internationally, it gets the Google Apps; in China, it gets a China-centric app selection.

So while these Chinese Android OSes are still technically Android forks, because they don't ship with Google Play, they are not that different from Google-approved Android. Google's control over the Android ecosystem—even when devices don't use the Google apps—means there is still some level of security and updateability going into these devices. Google's first argument in that Financial Times report is that more secure devices are better for national security.

The second argument in the above quote is that a ban would "create two kinds of Android" and hurt Google's monopoly over Android. If you're a smartphone manufacturer looking for a smartphone OS, Android is the only game in town. The latest worldwide OS market share numbers from the IDC show an 86.6/13.3 percent share between Android and iOS, respectively, with "Other" clocking in at 0.0 percent market share. Taken as a whole, the US has a smartphone OS monopoly.

For companies that aren't Apple, it's Android or nothing, and Google controls Android, both the direction of the OS itself and the OS' app ecosystem. Weaning Huawei off its Google dependence would theoretically lead the company to create some kind of viable, China-powered, China-controlled Android operating system that would then be distributed to the rest of the world. Android is open source, so there's nothing stopping anyone from doing this now, but part of Google's control strategy is to create tools and updates that are so good that no one wants to compete with them. Cutting Huawei off from those updates would force that company to create a competitor.

Banning Huawei from dealing with US companies is definitely a double-edged sword. Huawei would have a tough time building smartphones or an app ecosystem without the help of US-originated technology and app developers, but US hardware and software companies would lose access to the second largest smartphone maker in the world.

Really, the two outcomes here, if the export ban holds up, are that either (1) Huawei can't handle the export ban and shuts down, like ZTE did, or (2) Huawei weathers the storm and rises as a rebuilt, fully US independent smartphone company. Google's argument is basically along the lines of that old saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...e-huawei-ban-would-hurt-its-android-monopoly/

 

[UKBengali]

Ok, Hongmeng is going into my P20 Pro asap.

 

[Fawadqasim1]

Google argues the Huawei ban would hurt its Android monopoly

The Trump administration would probably describe its Huawei export ban as a move that improves national security by keeping China's pet telecom company out of the US market. According to a report from The Financial Times, Google's recent discussions with the US government actually argue that the Huawei ban is bad for national security. Google is reportedly asking for an exemption from the export ban.

The argument, reportedly, is that Huawei is currently dependent on Google for its Android smartphone software, and that dependence is a good thing for the US. The Financial Times quotes "one person with knowledge of the conversations" as saying, "Google has been arguing that by stopping it from dealing with Huawei, the US risks creating two kinds of Android operating system: the genuine version and a hybrid one. The hybrid one is likely to have more bugs in it than the Google one, and so could put Huawei phones more at risk of being hacked, not least by China.”

Today, non-Google Play versions of Android exist in China, but it's rare that any of them are significantly different from a Google version of Android beyond the pre-loaded app selection. Chinese manufacturers are still global smartphone distributors, so they all build Google-approved Android OSes for the non-Chinese market. What usually happens is that a single OS goes through the Google testing process, then it gets split into two versions. Internationally, it gets the Google Apps; in China, it gets a China-centric app selection.

So while these Chinese Android OSes are still technically Android forks, because they don't ship with Google Play, they are not that different from Google-approved Android. Google's control over the Android ecosystem—even when devices don't use the Google apps—means there is still some level of security and updateability going into these devices. Google's first argument in that Financial Times report is that more secure devices are better for national security.

The second argument in the above quote is that a ban would "create two kinds of Android" and hurt Google's monopoly over Android. If you're a smartphone manufacturer looking for a smartphone OS, Android is the only game in town. The latest worldwide OS market share numbers from the IDC show an 86.6/13.3 percent share between Android and iOS, respectively, with "Other" clocking in at 0.0 percent market share. Taken as a whole, the US has a smartphone OS monopoly.

For companies that aren't Apple, it's Android or nothing, and Google controls Android, both the direction of the OS itself and the OS' app ecosystem. Weaning Huawei off its Google dependence would theoretically lead the company to create some kind of viable, China-powered, China-controlled Android operating system that would then be distributed to the rest of the world. Android is open source, so there's nothing stopping anyone from doing this now, but part of Google's control strategy is to create tools and updates that are so good that no one wants to compete with them. Cutting Huawei off from those updates would force that company to create a competitor.

Banning Huawei from dealing with US companies is definitely a double-edged sword. Huawei would have a tough time building smartphones or an app ecosystem without the help of US-originated technology and app developers, but US hardware and software companies would lose access to the second largest smartphone maker in the world.

Really, the two outcomes here, if the export ban holds up, are that either (1) Huawei can't handle the export ban and shuts down, like ZTE did, or (2) Huawei weathers the storm and rises as a rebuilt, fully US independent smartphone company. Google's argument is basically along the lines of that old saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...e-huawei-ban-would-hurt-its-android-monopoly/

Absolutely

I will immediately buy Huawei phone with HongMeng OS period.

 

[the_messenger]

Or, the Android and Google so-called ecosystem collect all info from all of its users and store it in the US.
If you do read the Google Term and Contract, it gives Google the total control of your data.
Now with the new OS and new ecosystem, all of those data will no longer in the US hand.

 

[Tom99]

Apple and Google makes tons of money from their App Stores. Huawei needs their own App Store that can compete with Apple's/Google's ecosystem. Samsung knows this too as it is trying to prompt its own ecosystem Tizen.

 

[UKBengali]

Google very well knows that if the ban is not lifted then Huawei will just consolidate in China(huge market of 1.4 billion), Asia and Africa while it spends 3-5 years on going totally indigenous before trying to making a comeback in Europe and Latin America, where it could well threaten Google's Android dominance.
Huawei is the most innovative Android manufacturer there is and Google knows Android will be all the poorer without it. Better to work with Huawei rather than against it as far as Google is concerned.

 

[TaiShang]

Huawei's "Ark OS" is getting Google really worried.

Google says cutting us off from Huawei is a security risk | Fox News

Now the chicken hawk US officials mulling easing or postponing some restrictions imposed by the US government on Huawei.

We need more radical US politicians, asap!

Chicken hawks should not falter halfway. Anyways, I think Pandora's Box is open now. With our without US government buckling, China will introduce a good option to the monopolistic US product for the world. No going back on this because the world has seen the perils of allowing the US to have monopoly on key technologies.

 

[k s ahmed]

Ok, Hongmeng is going into my P20 Pro asap.

yo mate.. moi aussi
cant wait ..

Absolutely

I will immediately buy Huawei phone with HongMeng OS period.

buy one now.. update it when it is launched. i am waiting

 

[LeGenD]

Google is much bigger than a mere OS. Google offer lot of services and options to consumers, and even Microsoft was not able to compete with it.

Best of luck to Huawei but too early to get excited over this development.

 

[k s ahmed]

Google is much bigger than a mere OS. Google offer lot of services and options to consumers, and not even Microsoft was able to compete with it.

Best of luck to Huawei but too early to get excited over this development.

google is big .. but if you know, huawei is growing faaaast.. and american had to ban them toi protect apple in usa.
and even then, huawei makes much more money just in china... its asian and american sales are lower as compared to chinese sales, can you imagine what google will lose ? 1.4 billion users ( from china(
plus new ones all around the world ( like me) would use their system too.. you got the picture right ?

google is big .. but if you know, huawei is growing faaaast.. and american had to ban them toi protect apple in usa.
and even then, huawei makes much more money just in china... its asian and american sales are lower as compared to chinese sales, can you imagine what google will lose ? 1.4 billion users ( from china(
plus new ones all around the world ( like me) would use their system too.. you got the picture right ?

all other services are not exactly paid and not many consume the paid services... or not as many..

 

[LeGenD]

google is big .. but if you know, huawei is growing faaaast.. and american had to ban them toi protect apple in usa.
and even then, huawei makes much more money just in china... its asian and american sales are lower as compared to chinese sales, can you imagine what google will lose ? 1.4 billion users ( from china(
plus new ones all around the world ( like me) would use their system too.. you got the picture right ?

Huawei grew very fast because it offer the best of both worlds, a seamless mix of Chinese and American technologies to consumers worldwide (cost-effective solutions), and its Smartphones acted as fantastic marketing instruments worldwide (positive word-of-mouth).

However, pushing China-based eco-system alternative to Google in foreign countries worldwide? Now this is a whole new ballgame, and many will not sign up for it. Even the likes of Microsoft and Samsung tried but failed.

Google is deeply entrenched all over the world outside China in so many ways that it is like a habit.