HarmonyOS (HarmonyOS) is finally officially unveiled.

On June 2, Huawei released the HarmonyOS 2 (HarmonyOS) operating system, along with a variety of mobile phones, tablets, and pads equipped with the new system, including the Mate 40 4G version, MatePad Pro, MateView displays, and third-generation smartwatches.

The P50 flagship model, which was supposed to be released in spring, left only a glimpse. You can see the dual camera set and the Leica logo, but the exact launch date is uncertain.

An amazing glimpse of the Huawei P50 phone during the online press conference

The press conference showed an incredibly convenient world. Huawei hopes that Harmony OS (Harmony OS) will open up a new interaction model: one-touch connection. Users can directly control the drone position on the phone, adjust the refrigerator temperature, operate the mobile app on the Pad, and read WeChat messages on the TV.

Huawei is anxious to differentiate itself from Android and iOS. They even gave the phone a new concept: “super terminal,” and also introduced a new interaction method called a “card”. The card-style “unified control center” can control different IoT devices, eliminating the steps of switching between interfaces and matching Bluetooth and WiFi.

With Harmony OS (Harmony OS), Huawei has created a new mobile interaction mode.

The heart of this system is still the phone. Two years ago, when Yu Chengdong appeared with Hongmeng, his relationship with the Android system was still somewhat ambiguous. At the time, it can be said that Huawei was ready to replace Android, but it was still undecided to replace Android.

Now that Huawei is bringing Harmony OS to the mobile phone market, strategic considerations are more likely to be a choice for fighter jets. This tiny screen is the origin and destination of Harmony OS (HarmonyOS), and no matter how big the IoT story is, this screen cannot be missing.

Since its inception, Harmony OS (Harmony OS) has been destined to conquer the mobile phone market. This is Harmony OS's first battle, but it is the final battle for Huawei in the terminal market.

Facing the future of IoT

Harmony OS (Harmony) is an ambitious system. In Huawei's vision, Harmony OS (Harmony OS) is aimed at an endless network of devices. In addition to mobile phones, it also includes tablets, TVs, and a large number of wearables.

When the “smooth and easy to use” Microsoft WP phone completely withdrew from the market at the end of 2017, I looked back at WP's corpse and discovered that Harmony OS (Hongmeng)'s IoT “ambition” could only take it around the swamp and lead to another “curve” where it is possible to take some kind of overtaking car.

The underlying logic based on the Internet of Things is different from that based on mobile platforms, so Harmony OS (Harmony OS) uses a different “microkernel” and distributed architecture from Android's “macro core”. The main purpose is to make development more efficient and the system can be replicated more quickly to different devices.

In the past, if developers wanted to adapt to Android on a tablet, it took a lot of time to split it up, and usually required the manpower of a team. Distributed architectures are different. To use an inappropriate analogy, Harmony OS (Hongmeng) is similar to a jigsaw puzzle. Developers can quickly tailor and splice, and quickly adapt to different devices.

Google is also aware of the advantages of distributed operating systems. In 2016, Google announced its Fuchsia OS, which also uses a microkernel and distributed architecture, but Google has always kept a low profile on this.

In December of last year, after 5 years of preparation, Fuchsia was officially open sourced to the outside world, and appeared on Google's smart device Nest Hub in early May this year. It was quiet and silent, and there was almost no splash in the industry.

Compared to that, Huawei's movements are bigger and faster. “Fuchsia has just been open source and is still at the code level. Harmony OS (Harmony OS) already has a commercial version today, and Harmony OS (Harmony OS) OS still has obvious advantages.” Zhao Li, founder of Hongmeng Ecological's startup Haopa Technology, told 36Krypton.

But it goes without saying that for the more aggressive Huawei or the more cautious Google, IoT is the big story and big market for the future.

Harmony OS (Harmony OS) was officially released in August 2019 and open source was announced at the same time, but Huawei intentionally or unintentionally avoided the mobile phone market, and instead the home appliance companies and automobile manufacturers most closely related to IoT became entrants. Last year, Midea launched kitchen heaters, air conditioners, etc. equipped with Hongmeng OS, and also announced that nearly 200 SKU products will use Harmony OS (Harmony OS) this year, including washing machines, rice cookers, and refrigerators.

Picture from the official website

This is the smart thing about Harmony OS (HarmonyOS).

The silent home appliance industry waited for a long time to come, and Hongmeng quickly gained momentum. Next, the NEV market opened up smoothly, and new energy vehicles, which naturally carry intelligent genes, also found a fulcrum through Hongmeng.

At the Shanghai Auto Show this year, the Alpha S released by ARCFOX, a new energy vehicle brand owned by BAIC, was installed for the first time. Not only did it gain a lot of attention, but the stock price of the listed company BAIC Blue Valley rose 137% in less than 2 months.

However, Huawei knows that IoT is facing the future, and smartphones are the current scenario and the only way to the future.

However, domestic users who spend more than 6 hours on their phones every day are apparently unprepared to accept a completely different operating system.

This is a reality that Huawei must face. Even though there are differences in the underlying architecture, they are still looking for ways to enable Hongmeng to connect seamlessly with Android. Huawei has repeatedly emphasized “one-click upgrades” to reduce the psychological burden on users and minimize migration costs.

The interface and operation of Harmony OS (Harmony OS) is strikingly similar to Android on the smartphone screen. Zhao Li, who has experienced the beta version of Hongmeng OS 2.0 before its release, also told 36Krypton that there is no difference between the Harmony OS (Harmony) interface and the use of apps that have migrated to the new system; on the contrary, the fluency has improved markedly.

Harmony OS is indeed a smooth and lightweight system. However, the unavoidable question is: How can phones and devices other than Huawei use it?

A battle of life and death

Predictably, the mobile application of Harmony OS (Harmony OS) will be shorter and more difficult than home appliances or even new energy vehicles.

Compared to Android, which was born more than 10 years ago, the development environment is mature, development tools are abundant, and the business model has already worked. It seems that as soon as Dongfeng arrives, Harmony OS (Harmony OS) will rise to prominence.

But where is the wind and will it rise as scheduled?

Harmony OS (Harmony OS) is based on a microkernel framework, and Android is based on the Linux architecture and uses a macro kernel. Literally understandable, the macro core arranges everything, and the requirements of all applications are directly proposed to it, including basic network protocols, memory management, etc. The micro kernel is more like a coordinator, retaining only the most basic thread management, etc. The rest of the processes are separate and run in parallel outside the core.

This kind of flaw is also obvious. There is an extra step for communication within the kernel and outside the core, which will inevitably increase the cost of the system. When switching back and forth, the system can easily go down if it gets blocked.

Huawei seems to be looking for some kind of unification of the two. Harmony OS (Harmony OS) still uses Linux in the kernel-layer subsystem, and not all use the microkernel mechanism. They don't seem to want to emphasize the kernel issue any more.

Even if the underlying technical barriers are removed, Harmony OS (Harmony OS) must face another more ultimate test: system and ecology.

Yang Haisong, vice president of Huawei's consumer business software department, once said, “For low-level platforms such as operating systems, software usage and market share are the core factors for whether it can survive and succeed, and 16% market share is a life and death line.”

Today, in addition to code, the advantages of Android and iOS are more critical closed loop systems built by platforms, developers, and users. On top of this system, Android's business model was born: internal purchasing+advertising platform. This is the nourishment for the system to continue to grow, and it is also the key to the system, which can be called “ecology.”

Picture from the official website

“16% market share” became a familiar figure before this press conference. This figure stands in front of Hongmeng with a clear shadow: in terms of the Harmony OS (Harmony OS) system, it is between open Android and closed iOS. In the case of Huawei, which owns Harmony OS (Harmony OS), it is not only a hardware company, but also a code provider for open source systems.

Google and Microsoft have also made scattered hardware, including smartphone pixels and tablet surfaces, but this part has never been the focus of their business. Pixel is hidden in “other revenue” in Google's earnings report, and is almost negligible in 100 billion US dollars of revenue. Google, on the other hand, is still an entirely internet company.

Harmony OS (Harmony OS) is backed by Huawei's own strategy: “1+8+N.” At the center of the ring, it is the core hardware that is difficult for Huawei to give up, such as tablets, smart TVs, and smart wearables. Among these categories, Huawei could soon become a giant among them if it wanted to. After all, Huawei is a powerful hardware manufacturer. Even if the Harmony OS (Harmony OS) code is open source, it is difficult for rivals to completely dispel their concerns and use the “friend business” operating system code.

Huawei's approach is to hand over OpenHarmony, the open source part of Harmony OS (Harmony), to a third party agency, to the Open Atom Foundation. This is also common international practice. As a developer, Huawei also needs to call the code through this foundation.

In contrast, migration systems are probably a secondary consideration for hardware companies.

If Harmony OS (Harmony OS) is to truly become one of the three operating systems in the world, the fate is ultimately decided by “friends and merchants” and users. “The concept of the interconnection of everything is like dry firewood; it requires fire. If the collaboration of Harmony OS (Harmony OS) devices creates another kind of super smart terminal, which is widely recognized, consumers will pay the bill. As a manufacturer, they will definitely not want outsiders.” Zhao Li said.

“In the age of the Internet of Everything, no one will be an island.” This is Yu Chengdong's concluding remarks at the press conference. However, that era of connectivity is yet to come. On the eve of this ambiguity, if Harmony OS (Harmony OS) crosses the “16%” road sign, the future is broad, and if broken, the situation will be even more complicated and changing. Seen in this sense, Harmony OS (Harmony OS)'s attack on the mobile phone market this time actually unravels the prelude to the battle of life and death of Harmony OS (Harmony Meng).