HongMeng OS is the name we’ve come to know as the ‘soon to be ready’ solution to Huawei’s problems in the event the Android ban became a permanent move. That scenario unfolded a few weeks ago when the Trump administration placed China’s largest smartphone vendor on a blacklist that prevents it from importing any technology made in the States, whether it’s software or hardware. Then Huawei registered a “HongMeng” trademark in several countries, which was believed to be the name of its OS, and it looks like HongMeng is coming soon.
Apparently, Huawei in-house OS would not just be suited for smartphones, but for tablets, PCs and IoT solutions, meaning it could provide a connected ecosystem for potentially millions of users, if it got off to a near-perfect start.
In an interview with a French magazine, Le Point, Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei talks more about HongMeng OS.
Zhengfei reportedly said Hong Meng OS is “likely” to be faster than Android, pointing to a report from the state-operated GlobalTimes that said it was 60% faster. He sounded highly optimistic regarding the performance and optimization of HongMeng OS, claiming that the operating system has a processing delay of fewer than 5 milliseconds. It will be perfectly adapted to the Internet of Things and can also be applied to autonomous driving. Ren Zhengfei pointed out: “We built this system in order to be able to connect all objects simultaneously. This is how we move towards a smart society.”
While Zhengfei boasted that HongMeng is designed to connect across multiple devices, including phones, cars and data centers, he did concede that Huawei lacks a serious alternative to Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Huawei is now working to create that alternative.
The CEO’s comments mean that, regardless of whether Huawei is lifted from the Department of Commerce’s blacklist, Huawei is likely to push on with its own operating system. As much as some of the company’s phones use Qualcomm chips, most of its flagship phones contain Huawei’s own Kirrin CPUs. The company’s spat with the US government looks to ultimately make it more self-reliant than ever, of course, that is if HongMeng can compete with Android.
Ever since Trump softened the US ban on Huawei, it has been unclear whether future Huawei phones will run on Android or Hongmeng OS. Huawei said earlier this month that it is waiting for the US Department of Commerce to release guidelines for the re-use of Android. Simultaneously, the company is already testing Hongmeng OS in its phones in China. The next big launches for Huawei this year is the Mate X and Mate 30 series and it’s unclear what operating system they will run on.
