Huawei and Tencent Join Strategic Forces to Enhance HarmonyOS Surpassing Apple iOS – BusinessKorea
Huawei has taken a significant step to bolster its HarmonyOS ecosystem by partnering with Tencent, a move that could reshape the competitive landscape of the Chinese smartphone market. This collaboration comes as Huawei continues to expand its market share, having already surpassed Apple in China.
In May 2019, the U.S. government placed Huawei on its restricted entity list, preventing the company from using Google's Android OS on its smartphones. In response, Huawei launched HarmonyOS in August of the same year, aiming to establish its independence from U.S. technology. Since then, HarmonyOS has seen rapid growth, with over 800 million devices now running the operating system, supported by more than 6,300 partners and 2.2 million developers.
According to Huawei's 2023 annual report published in March, the company has also engaged in extensive industry-academic collaboration, with 305 universities in China hosting HarmonyOS events and 135 universities conducting classes on the OS. This widespread adoption and educational support have been crucial in building a robust ecosystem around HarmonyOS.
The partnership with Tencent, which is in the final stages of contract signing, is a strategic move to further strengthen this ecosystem. Tencent's WeChat, a super app used by 1.36 billion people in China, and ByteDance's Douyin, known as the Chinese TikTok with 600 million users, are key components of this proposal. Huawei has proposed managing and updating these apps within the HarmonyOS platform without charging in-app payment fees, a significant departure from the up to 30% fees charged by Apple iOS and Google Android.
"HarmonyOS aims to attract apps that dominate Chinese daily life by offering fee exemptions," a Huawei spokesperson stated. This strategy is expected to draw more developers and users to the HarmonyOS platform, enhancing its competitiveness against established players like Apple and Google.
While Huawei has reached a mutual agreement with Tencent, ByteDance has not yet shown a clear response to the proposal. The success of this partnership could hinge on ByteDance's participation, given the massive user base of Douyin.
Market research firm Counterpoint Research reported that HarmonyOS accounted for 17% of the Chinese smartphone OS market in the first quarter, surpassing Apple iOS, which held 16%. This marks a significant increase from the 8% market share HarmonyOS held in the first quarter of the previous year, making it the second-largest OS in China after Google's Android, which dominates with 68%.
The rise of HarmonyOS can be attributed to the success of Huawei's 5G smartphone Mate 60, released last fall, and the strong sales of the premium P50 series launched in April. These devices have positioned Huawei as a formidable competitor in the AI phone market, which is expected to see fierce competition this fall.
Apple, on the other hand, is attempting to regain its footing by updating iOS 18 and launching the iPhone 16, which will feature numerous AI functions. However, Apple's reliance on U.S.-based AI models like ChatGPT, which cannot be used in the Chinese market due to regulatory restrictions, poses a significant challenge.
Huawei's ambition extends beyond smartphones, as the company aims to connect all devices with HarmonyOS, including smart homes and vehicles. By supporting HarmonyOS-based app developers primarily in mainland China and Southeast Asia, Huawei is laying the groundwork for a comprehensive ecosystem that could challenge the dominance of U.S. tech giants.
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