In 2023, the technology industry will usher in unprecedented changes and breakthroughs. The emergence of ChatGPT and other technologies has demonstrated the infinite possibilities in the field of natural language processing, and the entry of global technology giants such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon has pushed the "AI race" to a new climax.
However, the rapid development of technology has not brought prosperity to the whole industry. In Silicon Valley, the "wave of layoffs" has become a reality that people have to face, and tech giants are also looking for a more sustainable development path. In China, large manufacturers have also experienced personnel optimization and business adjustments, which means that the market environment is changing.
At the same time, the rise of spatial computing technology has given us a new vision of the new future of "virtual reality technology". Apple's Vision Pro headset, as a representative work in this field, has not only attracted widespread attention in the industry, but also brought in-depth thinking about how new technologies can be implemented and how to be applied.
In the field of mobile phone operating systems, Huawei Hongmeng 4The launch of 0 is undoubtedly an important beginning of the de-Android of the domestic mobile phone industry. Industry giants such as Tencent, Alipay, and Air China have announced their participation in the HarmonyOS ecosystem, which has injected more possibilities into its future development.
In addition, the first battle in the car market has shown us the cruelty of market competition. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the "three rounds of ** war" have been escalating, accelerating the reshuffle process of car companies, and some weaker car companies may directly "exit".
Whether it is the breakthrough progress of artificial intelligence or the rise of spatial computing technology, it indicates that the technology circle is moving towards a new era. At the same time, Huawei Hongmeng 4The launch of 0 means that the mobile phone operating system market will be reshuffled, and the "first war" in the automobile market also allows us to see the cruelty of market competition. In view of the development situation of various industries this year, CNMO has launched a series of special topics on "The Year of Science and Technology Circle", and this article focuses on "the de-Android of domestic mobile phone manufacturers".
According to data from research institutions, in 2019, Huawei's mobile phones were the second in the world, with mobile phone sales exceeding 240.6 billion units, 50 million more than Apple. However, due to sanctions and other reasons, overseas sales plummeted. Fortunately, after a few years, Huawei is now back on the uphill road. In particular, after the release of the Huawei Mate60 Pro, it helped Huawei win more than 19% of the Chinese market share in the 2023 W40 (October 2-October 8), briefly regaining the first place in China. After this incident, Huawei naturally realized the importance of developing a domestic ** chain and a domestic operating system, and HarmonyOS is ready to start replacing Android in the near future.
HarmonyOS began to move towards independence
In 2019, this is the year when Huawei HarmonyOS came out. In the following years, Huawei has been committed to improving HarmonyOS, and now it has changed to the major version of HarmonyOS 4. And 2023 is destined to be a special year for Huawei's HarmonyOS OS, starting from this year, Huawei's HarmonyOS will be completely independent and begin to decouple from the Android system.
There are two important points in time for Huawei HarmonyOS this year, one is on August 4, 2023, when the Huawei Developer Conference 2023 (HDCHarmonyOS 4 was officially released. At the conference, He Gang, Chief Operating Officer of Huawei Device BG, said that there are now more than 700 million smart devices in the HarmonyOS ecosystem, and the system upgrade rate has increased from 77% to 85% of HarmonyOS 2.
Another point in time is September 26, when Huawei held an all-scenario autumn new product launch conference. At the press conference, Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, CEO of Device BG, and Chairman of Intelligent Vehicle Solution BU, said that HarmonyOS Next will be released soon, and HarmonyOS native applications will be fully launched. The HarmonyOS Next Developer Preview will be available to developers in Q1 2024. Yu Chengdong said that this is a new chapter in the mobile application ecosystem, and Huawei has cultivated millions of HarmonyOS talents, and will invest 10 billion yuan to support the development of partners, covering applications in 18 fields, bringing consumers a smoother, smarter, and safer HarmonyOS native application experience.
Since its inception, the doubts about HarmonyOS have not disappeared, and many people think that the system is actually an Android skin. In the beginning, HarmonyOS did have a close relationship with Android. After all, the task of developing an operating system is arduous, and Huawei's strength cannot be achieved overnight. At that time, although Huawei mobile phones were running HarmonyOS OS, the apps installed were all Android versions, which also provided a basis for doubters. However, now, the full launch of the HarmonyOS native application marks the complete independence of this domestic operating system, and doubts are a thing of the past.
The crowd gathered firewood and the flame was high
Huawei's HarmonyOS native app is fully launched, marking the first shot fired by China's mobile phone industry to get rid of foreign operating systems. But one shot is certainly not enough, and victory requires a real thousand troops. In addition to Huawei, China's Internet has a large number of powerful enterprises, and their help is indispensable. At present, domestic giants such as Tencent, NetEase, and Alibaba have reached cooperation with Huawei and have joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem. The companies that have announced the start of the development of the HarmonyOS native app are: miHoYo, NetEase, Alipay, Flush, AutoNavi Map, 58 Group, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Ant Group, Ali DingTalk, etc. When it comes to supporting the HarmonyOS ecosystem, China's internet giants have shown their unity.
At the recent 2023 Open Source Industry Ecosystem Conference, Gong Ti, President of Huawei's Device BG Software Dept., announced more accurate data: the HarmonyOS Next system is under active preparation, and more than 400 partners have joined, fully launching the development of HarmonyOS native applications. Huawei has not yet announced a specific list, but in terms of quantity, we can also see the steady progress of HarmonyOS native application development.
It's not just Chinese tech companies that are making the move, but also China's education sector. At present, 21 985 universities, including Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Nanjing University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, etc., have opened courses on the Harmony system, and 16 universities such as Harbin Institute of Technology, Tianjin University, and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China have approved the Harmony project, and will soon open Harmony courses. These universities represent the top educational resources in China, and their entry into the game guarantees the future talents of Huawei HarmonyOS and the space and possibility of the future development of domestic operating systems.
The road is blocked and the long line is coming
At the end of October, another Chinese technology company, Xiaomi, held a new product launch conference. In addition to the release of the two mobile phones of the Xiaomi 14 series, Xiaomi also brought its own surging OS system. At present, Xiaomi's surging OS has just been released, and there is still a significant gap with Huawei's Hongmeng OS, and the official also said that the system is based on Android research and development. This is understandable, with Huawei's strength, Hongmeng OS cannot be achieved overnight, and surging OS needs more time to develop. Similar to HarmonyOS OS, Xiaomi's surging OS will also embark on the road of getting rid of Android in the future and gradually become a completely independent operating system, linking Xiaomi's mobile phones, cars, computers and home devices.
There is a characteristic of the domestic mobile phone industry, that is, the competition is very fierce, which is obvious to all. When consumers buy mobile phones, they will follow a principle of "I can do without, but I can't do without", and manufacturers seem to be following the principle of "I can do without functional technology configuration, but I can't do without backwardness" in the competition. Huawei and Xiaomi have begun to lay out their own operating systems,OPPO、How can other big manufacturers such as vivo be indifferent,ColorOS and origonos have made significant progress in recent years,On the road to get rid of Android,Follow-up is a matter of time。
The de-Android of the domestic mobile phone industry is already a matter on the bright side. However, just as it took three or four years from the release of Huawei's HarmonyOS to the full launch of the HarmonyOS native application, it is also a long-term project for the domestic mobile phone industry to completely get rid of Android, and its time may be calculated in ten years, 2023 is just the beginning of one of the insignificant, and there will be no fewer obstacles in the future. However, as long as the so-called "road is long and long, the line is coming", as long as it persists, the day will come when domestic mobile phone manufacturers will completely get rid of overseas operating systems.