Photo Credit: Huawei
Huawei has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 70, featuring HarmonyOS Next, a completely homegrown operating system developed by the company. The announcement marks a significant milestone in Huawei's ongoing effort to establish technological independence from Western platforms like Google's Android and Apple's iOS, following years of U.S. trade restrictions.
Priced at 5,499 yuan ($760), the Mate 70 no longer supports Android-based apps, positioning itself as a "pure-blooded" innovation created solely by Huawei engineers. Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's consumer business, introduced the phone at its launch, calling it "the most powerful phone in the Mate series" and emphasizing Huawei's resilience despite challenges.
Since being blacklisted by the U.S. in 2019, which barred American companies from providing technology to Huawei, the Chinese tech giant has made significant strides in self-reliance. Huawei's initial version of HarmonyOS, launched the same year, supported Android apps. However, HarmonyOS Next represents a break from that reliance, with Huawei working to build a global ecosystem of apps exclusively for its platform.
The Mate 70 is the successor to last year's Mate 60, which surprised industry analysts by using advanced chips despite export restrictions. Its release reignited interest in Huawei's high-end smartphones, and the company's market share in China for premium phones has grown from 11% in 2022 to 33% this year.
Huawei aims to expand the HarmonyOS application ecosystem with a target of 100,000 apps by 2024. Analysts believe this bold move could cement HarmonyOS as the world's third mobile operating system, following iOS and Android.
