Tencent, Xiaomi And Oppo Testing Huawei's '60% Faster' Android OS

Zak DoffmanContributor
Cybersecurity
I write about security and surveillance.
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Further signs from China on June 11 that Huawei’s new smartphone operating system could be used to drive a wedge in Google Android’s dominance of the market. According to China’s Global Times, a government-friendly newspaper, “Huawei is reportedly intensively testing its proprietary operating system (OS) HongMeng with internet giants and domestic smartphone vendors, and the new system will be launched in the next few months.”

Given the source, the story needs to be contextualized as being part of the ongoing PR battle being waged by Beijing against Washington. The theme behind the story is China’s threat to split the global smartphone ecosystem, providing an alternative to Google’s full-blown Android software and services. If Huawei and the government can rally other leading Chinese players, so the theory goes, this becomes much more than simply one company’s attempt to survive a blacklisting.

The Global Times cited technology giant Tencent, as well as smartphone makers Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, and quoted an unnamed source “close to a major Chinese carrier” saying that the major Chinese technology companies “are actively working with Huawei to push forward the release of HongMeng OS, which is also considered as a major blow to the US-led crackdown.”

There have been reports that the new OS will launch on Huawei’s anticipated Mate 30 launch in the Fall. The Global Times referenced the P40 as an alternative. There have been conflicting reports as to the actual market-readiness of the OS, which might explain why an executive of Huawei’s business consumer group told the newspaper that the actual launch date remained “secret.”

None of the technology companies referenced provided comments.

The Global Times headlined its story with the claim that the new OS will be “60% faster than Android,” repeating a claim made by the head of Huawei’s smartphone business Richard Yu. Nothing has yet substantiated this claim, albeit there has been some analysis around the way code might be compiled to enable this. Safest bet on this claim right now, though, is PR.

Interestingly, a more measured opinion piece at the same time in the less governmental South China Morning Post questioned whether Huawei’s front-foot battle with the U.S. is survivable without concessions from talks between leaders Trump and Xi. The bluster was “a nice morale booster for the troops but belied the reality of Huawei’s dependence on U.S. core technology.” The stark situation for Huawei remains that CEO Ren and his lieutenants are “facing the full force of the United States government, with the fight to the end has come sooner than expected.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that both Google and Apple are weighing up options for manufacturing products outside of China to maneuver around U.S. sanctions and Chinese reciprocation. Google “is moving some production of Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China, avoiding punitive U.S. tariffs and an increasingly hostile government in Beijing,” while “Apple has a backup plan if the U.S.-China trade war gets out of hand,” with the company’s manufacturing partner Foxconn having “enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the U.S. outside of China if necessary.”

Clearly, Google stands to lose the most from a concerted Chinese effort around a non-Google OS. In China where Google services are blocked, Huawei already uses the open-source version of Android. This limits security updates and prompted Google to warn the U.S. government of national security risks, asking for the blacklist to exempt Android. Of course, the open-source OS also cuts Google off from the consumer data that drives its advertising machine – another reason why the world’s second largest smartphone maker cutting OS ties carries a heavy cost.

As I commented earlier this week, the new OS is “make or break” for Huawei unless something changes in the U.S. stance. The company needs the OS to land quickly and successfully. It needs to steady its consumer ship. It needs to recover the upper hand to restore confidence in the brand. And it will be a hellish trick to pull off, asking consumers in countries outside China – where access to the full-blown Android ecosystem is taken for granted – to move to something new. Media reports from China need to be read with that qualification fully in mind.

Wish Huawei the best, fcuk them Google zionists and those effing yanks.

Wacha kanuke.

Google and Trump stepped on a live wire. You should know who to bully and who to befriend.

You don’t need a PhD to know what will happen to Google Android’s market share 5 years from now.

Once these Chinese guys become self sufficient in semi conductors and chips in about 5 years, I expect most American tech companies to fold quickly. They will simply not be able to match Chinese price and work ethic not forgetting the crucial replication of shenzen supply chain.
It’s a bit late to contain China techwise. This battle should have started 20 years ago. Sorry uncle Sam.

I F*CKIN AGREE 100% … it’s about time google and their american tech-chieth got to play second fiddle… Yaani the hypocrisy in everything they do is astounding …[SIZE=6]Hio OMENA O.S ikuje haraka ! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=7][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)] [/SIZE][SIZE=7][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]VIVA HUAWEI ![/SIZE]