When everyone was celebrating this milestone, at the beginning of 20 18, Wang Xiangren, the head of Huawei's consumer business software department, sent a dangerous signal: Huawei does not have a "foundation" that matches the huge mobile phone business scale, and Huawei needs its own operating system.
Ren immediately decided to upgrade the originally planned "operating system project" from an internal project of the software department to a company project.
Two years later, on August 9th, 2065438+2009, Yu Chengdong celebrated its 50th birthday, which was four months after the United States first sanctioned Huawei. On the same day, Huawei released the HarmonyOS system at the developer conference. Yu Chengdong's birthday cake and photos of HarmonyOS's system name spread all over social networking sites.
HarmonyOS system was born in the high-light moment of Huawei, and reached the stage of Huawei crisis.
However, whether it is the early "system living in PPT" or the later "Android shell", the public has expectations and doubts about the HarmonyOS system.
Recently, HarmonyOS system has been gradually pushed to ordinary users' mobile phones, and the debate about HarmonyOS system has become increasingly fierce.
In the context of the global contraction of Huawei's mobile phone business, the HarmonyOS system is about to face a huge crisis in its infancy.
Qin unified the six countries and began to formulate unified standards, the same books and the same cars for the previously divided world.
HarmonyOS system hopes to unify the system language of all household appliances.
In the words of Yang, the person in charge of eco-business, one advantage of using home appliances is that mobile phones can be controlled across devices, without downloading any apps, and have NFC function.
According to Huawei's expectation, HarmonyOS is an operating system developed for all terminal devices in the Internet of Things era, while Android and iOS are the products of the mobile Internet era.
In the past, computers, refrigerators, air conditioners and mobile phones could not "communicate" directly. In order to realize the interaction between devices, technicians need to develop a network pairing protocol.
In order to realize the "Internet of Everything" conveniently, it is best that all these household appliances speak the same language.
HarmonyOS system was born to meet this demand. This operating system located in the Internet of Things can solve the interconnection of various devices from the system level.
From a technical point of view, HarmonyOS system is more like Apple. Because both HarmonyOS and Apple use "microkernel architecture", Android uses macro kernel architecture.
When Apple defined the direction of iOS at the developer conference in 2020, it was basically consistent with the idea of HarmonyOS system, and it was also the integration and interconnection of multiple devices at the bottom.
This makes Wang, the head of Huawei's consumer business software department, feel a little gratified-the more people are walking in the direction, the greater the possibility of success.
But the difference is that HarmonyOS is open and Apple is closed. HarmonyOS system will cooperate with third-party home appliance manufacturers to gather more people's strength to promote this matter.
HarmonyOS system 20 16 began to brew, and 20 19 was born at an accelerated pace. As can be seen from the design idea, this system is not specially prepared for mobile phones. However, after the black swan came one after another, the spare tire turned positive and was ordered at a critical moment.
Whether expecting or questioning, HarmonyOS system has indeed gone out of PPT.
The Internet of Things also needs specialized systems, ecology and even applications.
Google, Microsoft, Apple, Xiaomi and Ali are all aiming at this new track, but the way and rhythm of cutting in are different.
Google Fuchsia operating system, which officially opened its source code at the end of 2020, is also developed based on microkernel, aiming to run on all platforms including mobile phones, PCs and Internet of Things devices, which is most similar to HarmonyOS system.
However, Google has Android, and there are complex conflicts of interest between the right and left hands. It is difficult for Huawei to fully invest in the Internet of Things.
Wit Display analyst Lin Zhi believes that this is "amateur" for others and "outlet" for Huawei, and its determination is different from investing resources.
But there is a problem here, that is, the "Internet of Everything" or "Multi-screen Collaboration" advocated by HarmonyOS system can actually be realized from the application level, and it does not necessarily need to go through the system. For example, using a mobile phone with NFC function and a beautiful home Application app, or a mobile phone with Xiaomi's home application app, you can also make the mobile phone jump out of the operable interface by touching the home appliance.
What's the difference between this and HarmonyOS system?
Yang, head of HarmonyOS System Ecology, said: The "card" (interface) pulled up by the mobile phone is atomic and opened from the end side, which is the original function of the operating system. Android phones connect to devices at the application layer through compatibility mode.
From the effect point of view, access through the operating system level is equivalent to passing the "main road", which can ensure the arrival rate and timeliness of services; Application-level access can achieve the same goal, but it is equivalent to bypassing other paths, and the arrival rate and efficiency will be weakened.
If you look at a specific connection, the difference between the two methods may not be obvious.
But when an ecology wants to do large-scale replication, differences arise.
For example, a range hood company with a screen wants to get through to a camera company so that users can observe the baby's state in the bedroom while cooking. However, for this function, the two manufacturers have coordinated for a year, but they still failed to make it, because it involves two applications and two operating systems between two products, and the communication cost is very high. If we all use HarmonyOS system, it will be easy to realize.
Of course, this is just a function. If two vendors seek cooperation on multiple functions, or one of them changes the operating system version, the cost of scale replication will increase even more.
In addition, the operating system will have the real-time status and data of the whole hardware, but the application program does not, so it is necessary to read the data from the operating system. Therefore, different applications read different data.
In terms of privacy, since the servers of the application app are all in the cloud, the application needs to bypass the cloud to read data, and the data naturally needs to go to the cloud. The operating system is based on end-to-end access and does not need the process of going to the cloud, so the protection of privacy and security is different.
From this point of view, the uniqueness of HarmonyOS system itself lies not in the simple use of mobile phones, but in the real popularization of the Internet of Things. Manufacturers began mass production and consumers widely used it.
If the value of HarmonyOS system itself is the meaning of its existence, then Huawei's terminal equipment all over the world is an important carrier for the early development of HarmonyOS system.
Yang said that the basic survival bottom line of an operating system is 16% market share. Based on this calculation, Huawei needs to reach 300 million terminals this year, of which 200 million are Huawei mobile phones and Huawei's own terminal equipment including smart watches, tablets and smart screens, and 1 100 million are products produced by ecological partners.
Under the sanctions of the United States, the global shipments of Huawei mobile phones have fallen sharply in the recent market survey. In the fourth quarter of 2020, there were only 32.3 million mobile phones, which had fallen out of the top five. However, Huawei's global cumulative users and domestic shipments are still considerable.
According to the 2020 annual report, Huawei's global terminal connections have exceeded 654.38 billion, and the number of mobile phone users has exceeded 730 million. Yu Chengdong also indicated in February, 20021year that the monthly users of Huawei HMS (Huawei Mobile Terminal Cloud Service) exceeded 580 million.
Therefore, Huawei is confident to promote the HarmonyOS system, and there is also an incremental crisis.
In the long run, the self-developed kernel of HarmonyOS system needs the support of more hardware manufacturers, and the application ecology needs the joint efforts of many developers.
None of this can be done by Huawei alone.
The first is the problem of hardware support.
The operating system is an intermediate platform for connecting applications and connecting hardware. In the process of "connecting hardware", many hardware including chips, processors and fingerprint modules are needed to provide a specific driver.
For example, a mobile phone equipped with HarmonyOS system needs Samsung's screen, and Samsung needs to write a program that can drive the screen for the kernel of HarmonyOS system, as do other hardware manufacturers.
HarmonyOS system has three kernels, namely Linux kernel, HarmonyOS system microkernel and LiteOS kernel.
Among them, the Linux kernel is responsible for the running task of the mobile phone, and it is also the kernel used by the existing Android system. In addition, HarmonyOS system micronucleus and LiteOS belong to Huawei's self-research, aiming at operational tasks including home appliances and automobiles.
Because the Android operating system has been widely used, major mobile phone hardware manufacturers, including Qualcomm and Samsung, have driven the Linux kernel of the Android system in their mobile phone hardware products, and have also improved their experience through continuous iteration.
However, Huawei's self-developed HarmonyOS system microkernel and LiteOS are still in the initial stage of development, and it is inevitable to encounter resistance when trying to win more technical support from major mobile phone hardware manufacturers, so we still need to use Linux kernel for the time being.
Secondly, the problem of ecological construction.
The three-core system architecture can help HarmonyOS solve the application compatibility problem in the transitional period, while retaining the advantages of the Internet of Everything. After using HarmonyOS system, many people won't feel much different from other systems for the time being. This is because the interaction of the smartphone operating system itself is mature, and the HarmonyOS system does not need to do new functions everywhere, so there are more differences in the aforementioned underlying architecture and the Internet of Everything scenario.
The question is, after the framework of the operating system is built, can a new and rich application app ecosystem be formed based on the scene of the Internet of Everything? This will be the decisive factor for the continued vitality of the HarmonyOS system.
What really makes Android successful is its rich application ecology and huge users who rely on it. Among them, GMS (Google Mobile Service) with Google trademark, such as video software YouTube, browser Chrome, Google Maps, Google Translation, etc. , you need Google authorization to carry it.
For the current HarmonyOS system, "killer application" has obviously not been born.
Yang, the head of HarmonyOS's ecosystem business, said that the killer application of HarmonyOS system at this stage is not a specific carrier, but a killer application to push the most suitable experience and service for you at the most suitable time and in the most suitable way.
These two problems will take some time to solve. Prior to this, at the application app level, hardware vendors' support for the kernel was inseparable from the Android ecosystem and the Linux kernel.
But it is unfair to say that HarmonyOS is an Android shell. What matters is whether HarmonyOS can open its own situation after a period of time.
The long-term problem can be solved slowly, but the chip problem leads to the dilemma of Huawei's mobile phone business, which is a more serious problem in HarmonyOS system in the short term.
Huawei's existing number of terminal products is a big advantage in launching HarmonyOS system. However, the future shipment of Huawei mobile phones is also directly related to whether the HarmonyOS system can continue to have core operators.
In the first quarter of 20021,Huawei's mobile phone shipments fell out of the top five in the world for the first time, and also fell from the first to the third in China.
Wang said in a public event that it will be installed on 200 million Huawei mobile phones in 20021year, but in the face of actual sales, Huawei's expectations have been lowered.
Although HarmonyOS is an operating system based on "Internet of Everything", for a period of time, the Internet of Things still needs mobile phone terminal devices as the core.
As for the pan-IoT products that Huawei cooperates with other brand manufacturers, it is also based on the market share of Huawei mobile phones to some extent.
Simply pushing the system without using a mobile phone is equivalent to having no brain.
Take beauty as an example. At present, HarmonyOS System is only one of the entrances of its smart home products, not the only one.
Midea will also cooperate with other mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi and OPPO to open the entrance based on the application level. Midea's own application app "Meimeiju" is still the official entrance with richer functions and better experience.
According to the understanding of the market, based on the number of various terminal devices of Huawei at present and the great expectation of HarmonyOS system in the market, Midea specially added workstations, put in automation equipment and even reduced the flow of production lines in order to carry HarmonyOS system.
However, from the point of view of beauty, all kinds of investments at present are based on the positive prediction of the future development of HarmonyOS system, and are laid out in advance. After all, the replacement cycle of home appliances is longer than that of mobile phones, and the layout of the Internet of Things should start earlier.
However, if Huawei's mobile phone can't keep the following sales, the core carrier of HarmonyOS system will be greatly reduced, and the chips for cooperation with other brand manufacturers will also be affected.
In this case, the HarmonyOS system, which will be upgraded on a large scale in June, has become a way for Huawei to retain users.
Wang, head of Huawei, predicted, "If an old user has a very good experience after upgrading to the system, he may stay. As long as it is caught in these two years, our hardware may come back. "
In other words, if the initial online experience of HarmonyOS system is not ideal, it may also accelerate the loss of existing Huawei mobile phone users. To some extent, in the next period of time, Huawei's mobile phone business and HarmonyOS's operating system have a binding relationship of "one glory, one loss, one loss".
At present, the problem of mobile phone chip is imminent, but it is also a good opportunity for Huawei to win the support of hardware manufacturers to be compatible with HarmonyOS system.
According to the available information, Qualcomm may become the next chip supplier of Huawei mobile phones, so supporting the self-developed core of HarmonyOS system may also become one of the bargaining chips.
In addition, although other mobile phone manufacturers are unlikely to be equipped with HarmonyOS system in the short term, if they are willing to cooperate and integrate the framework of HarmonyOS system into their mobile phones, or integrate relevant protocols into Huawei's HMS installation package, users can also interact with HarmonyOS system appliances on non-Huawei mobile phones without setting obstacles.
But no matter which solution, every family has countless interests to weigh.
Yang, head of Huawei's ecology, said that if there is no improvement in the past two years, the historical opportunity in the next decade may still be in the hands of others.
Microsoft is the king operating system in the PC era, and Android and Apple split in two in the mobile Internet era. Who is the ultimate winner in the Internet of Things era is still unknown.
But whether the HarmonyOS system can finally realize the idea of unifying the Internet of Things system. In the case that the domestic operating system is almost blank, the birth and appearance of HarmonyOS system itself is a milestone to resist the crisis.
(Author Lin Xiaxi Xi, editor Li Shuguang)