On January 18, 2024, Huawei announced the developer preview of HarmonyOS Next, marking the second stage of the development of the HarmonyOS operating system. This version is the pioneer of pure HarmonyOS and will no longer be compatible with Android apps, laying the foundation for the independence of the HarmonyOS ecosystem. This announcement means that HarmonyOS will launch a developer beta version in the second quarter of this year and a commercial version in the fourth quarter. 
At present, there are more than 800 million HarmonyOS ecological devices, of which Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, said: "The number of HarmonyOS ecological devices has increased from 700 million to 800 million in just five months. "This shows that the HarmonyOS ecosystem is booming at an astonishing rate. 
The HarmonyOS can be divided into two categories: one is consumer-oriented operating system and application development, which is led by Huawei; The other type is industry-oriented applications, which are entrusted to the OpenHarmony open source organization. By the end of 2024, Huawei aims to have 5,000 apps join the HarmonyOS ecosystem, eventually reaching a scale of 500,000 apps. 
From a technical point of view, HarmonyOS Next no longer relies on the traditional UNIX and Linux kernels, but uses the self-developed HarmonyOS kernel. All these changes mean that the HarmonyOS will gradually get rid of the dependence on the Linux kernel and Android AOSP** and become a "pure HarmonyOS". The HarmonyOS kernel has the characteristics of being more flexible, safer, and smoother, making the HarmonyOS system more adaptable to the diverse needs of devices in all scenarios. Ecological construction is a complex and long-lasting process, and for HarmonyOS, the addition of head applications is an important indicator. At present, more than 200 leading applications have joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem, covering 18 fields such as games, social communication, travel navigation, business office, and tourism and accommodation. HarmonyOS has ushered in its first year, and leading Internet applications have joined the HarmonyOS ecosystem, including Alipay, NetEase Games, Meituan, DingTalk, Bilibili, JD.com, etc. 
However, ecological construction still faces a series of challenges. Migrating top applications requires a large team and long-term investment, as well as challenges such as technical issues and benefit distribution. Developers are most concerned about the development cost, because the change of the underlying interface and mechanism means that the upper-layer application needs to be redeveloped, which increases the labor cost. In order to attract more developers, Huawei announced the "Bright Star Plan", investing 7 billion yuan to encourage HarmonyOS developers to innovate in HarmonyOS native applications, meta services, SDKs, and other aspects. In addition, Huawei plans to train more than 100,000 HarmonyOS developers every month and launch the 2024 HarmonyOS Innovation Competition, with a maximum single prize of 1 million yuan. 
Huawei is facing the cost of maintaining two systems, not only to maintain the Android-compatible version, but also to strengthen the native application system, which makes it inevitable to choose pure HarmonyOS. HarmonyOS's software industry chain will continue to explore along with the recovery of Huawei's mobile phones in the domestic market, paving the way for Huawei to create a broader era of software development. 
Overall, the rise of the HarmonyOS ecosystem indicates that Huawei is hitting the global smartphone market at a strong pace. TechInsights believes that in 2024, Huawei's Harmony OS will surpass Android in the Chinese market and become the second largest smartphone operating system in the Chinese market. This is not only a crucial year for Huawei, but also a year for the global smartphone market to reshape.