HarmonyOS: A Third of the Kingdom, Huawei's Battle of Red Cliffs Continues

HarmonyOS: A Third of the Kingdom, Huawei's Battle of Red Cliffs ContinuesSecondly, Yu declared more directly: "The tide of time surges, and for HarmonyOS to claim a third of the kingdom is the responsibility and mission bestowed upon our generation of terminal professionals by history." This powerful statement conveys Huawei's confidence and determination in HarmonyOS's future development, highlighting its goal: to become the world's third-largest mobile operating system, forming a three-way standoff with iOS and Android

HarmonyOS: A Third of the Kingdom, Huawei's Battle of Red Cliffs Continues

The Battle of Red Cliffs, a classic and well-known battle, established the three-kingdoms structure in ancient China. Similarly, in the mobile operating system arena, a "three-kingdoms" scenario is unfolding: Apple iOS, Google Android, and Huawei's HarmonyOS, vying for dominance like Wei, Shu, and Wu. In his first employee letter of the new year, Huawei's Richard Yu explicitly mentioned HarmonyOS aiming for "a third of the kingdom," a summary of its current state and a bold declaration for the future. This article delves into HarmonyOS's development journey, its challenges, and future direction.

01. HarmonyOS's "Third of the Kingdom": Historic Breakthrough and Mission

Richard Yu emphasized HarmonyOS's "third of the kingdom" strategic goal twice in his new year's letter. First, he pointed out the historic breakthrough in 2024: HarmonyOS NEXT (5.0) was officially released, with over 20,000 native apps and metaservices, over 7.2 million developers, and over 1 billion devices in the ecosystem. The fully self-developed HarmonyOS NEXT achieved independent control of core operating system technologies, breaking the duopoly of iOS and Android and "providing the world with a third choice." This signifies that HarmonyOS is no longer merely a follower but has the strength to compete with international giants.

Secondly, Yu declared more directly: "The tide of time surges, and for HarmonyOS to claim a third of the kingdom is the responsibility and mission bestowed upon our generation of terminal professionals by history." This powerful statement conveys Huawei's confidence and determination in HarmonyOS's future development, highlighting its goal: to become the world's third-largest mobile operating system, forming a three-way standoff with iOS and Android.

For over a decade, iOS and Android have almost monopolized the mobile OS market. While challengers like Windows Phone emerged, none could shake the dominance of the two giants. HarmonyOS, as China's first independently developed mobile operating system, faced immense challenges from the start. However, leveraging Huawei's strong user base, consumer support for domestic operating systems, and the positive adaptation of numerous software developers, it has shown promising signs of breaking through.

02. Ecosystem Maturity: HarmonyOS's Crucial Battle

The release of HarmonyOS NEXT (5.0) marks a new development phase. However, merely creating an OS is insufficient; it needs to thrive, requiring robust system features and a mature ecosystem.

Following the release of HarmonyOS 5.0, Huawei continuously pushed multiple upgrade packages, refining system functions such as adding app locks and USB file transfer. However, building a mature ecosystem is more crucial and complex than system refinement. System improvements rely mainly on Huawei's R&D capabilities, while ecosystem construction requires collaborative efforts.

Although HarmonyOS ecosystem construction is progressing, many apps have released native HarmonyOS versions, significant distance remains before maturity. New operating systems have new technical frameworks, requiring developers to rewrite code for compatibility. WeChat's development journey exemplifies this challenge. The WeChat team had to rebuild the entire application from the kernel to the architecture using ArkTS, a time-consuming process. Tencent's article, "E-factory Blackboard Newspaper," detailed this, stating the WeChat HarmonyOS team "had to cover 14 years of WeChat's journey in less than a year."

This illustrates the immense difficulty of building the HarmonyOS ecosystem. It doesn't rely on one or two apps but requires the participation of hundreds of thousands, even millions. Yu also stated in his letter that in 2025, HarmonyOS ecosystem investment will increase, aiming for 100,000 appsa key indicator of maturity.

03. 2025: A Pivotal Year for the HarmonyOS Ecosystem

Huawei executive Xu Zhijun publicly urged consumers to actively use and experience HarmonyOS to accelerate system and application iteration and improvement. He emphasized: "Operating systems and ecosystems are used into existence; the more people use them, the faster they mature." However, currently, only a limited number of phone models support upgrading to pure-blood HarmonyOS, directly hindering its rapid development.

To change this, Huawei plans to pre-install native HarmonyOS on all new smartphones and tablets in 2025 and gradually upgrade older models. This strategic move will significantly expand the user base and accelerate ecosystem maturity.

Only when more consumers accept and use HarmonyOS, and developers actively adapt to the ecosystem, can pure-blood HarmonyOS truly flourish. This will be an ongoing process requiring long-term investment.

04. A Three-Way Standoff: The Continuation of the Battle of Red Cliffs

In previous IT Home articles, we compared pure-blood HarmonyOS to "rock and roll on Huawei's new Long March," symbolizing the challenges and difficulties faced on the path of independent development. Yu's "third of the kingdom" in his new year's letter more directly reflects HarmonyOS's strategic market position.

While 2024's full market data isn't yet available, predictions from Counterpoint Research and TechInsights suggest HarmonyOS surpassed iOS in the Chinese market in 2024, becoming the second-largest OS after Android.

This indicates HarmonyOS has partially achieved its "third of the kingdom" goal, but Huawei will face further challenges. This "Battle of Red Cliffs" continues, requiring continuous effort to secure victory and consolidate its position in the mobile OS field. This is not only about Huawei's future but also China's strategic position in global tech competition.