The ripples of Huawei’s ban from using American tech in 2019 are still being felt across the globe today. It was alleged that the the Chinese company, Huawei, had links with the Chinese government, and thus they were banned from using Android OS in the phones and other tech that they produce.
Huawei have managed to find a workaround by creating their own OS: Harmony OS. But with their reputation still being called into question across multiple countries besides the US, will the company’s next flagship phone, the Huawei P50 Pro, prove to be a success outside of China?
The Background
Whilst we don’t want to look too deeply into the issues with Huawei’s relationships with countries outside of China, it is important to understand exactly how we got to this point to begin with.
Huawei were a growing company creating phones that rivalled even the top spec iPhones of the day, and the company were only increasing in popularity as one of the most reliable and top performing phone manufacturers out there.
After the US ban on sharing any technology with Huawei though, customers certainly became slightly more dubious about owning a Huawei phone.
That being said, Huawei phones are still a popular choice among many consumers today. So, will we even be able to get our hands on the Huawei P50 Pro even if we wanted to?
Well, the answer to that question is yes, thanks to Huawei’s innovative new OS. Harmony OS will likely now be the standard OS shipping with all Huawei phones in the future, and we believe it’ll all start with Huawei P50 Pro.
Because Huawei have developed their own OS, the sales of their phones in foreign countries will still go ahead because they actually have an OS for their products now.
As fresh cracks in the Western worlds strenuous relationships with China have began to show again, we can’t be certain of how governments around the world will react, and potential bans and tariffs on Chinese products are certainly a possibility.
How things develop in the future, we can’t really say, but it’s certainly something worth keeping an eye on if you’re hoping to get the Huawei P50 Pro when it releases.
Huawei’s Reputation
With increasing suspicion over the company’s ties with the Chinese government, more and more customers in more and more countries around the globe are beginning to doubt the safety and security of owning a Huawei phone.
With the release of their new OS, more people might be tempted to avoid the company’s products in favor of the more traditional options: iPhone, Samsung, that sort of thing.
However, if the phone is able to be sold around the world when the P50 Pro releases, we’ll need to know a little more about the new OS that it will ship with.
Huawei Harmony OS
Now that the more political stuff is out of the way, we can get into the stuff we really know a lot about: tech.
The Huawei Harmony OS has been developed rapidly, and it has a number of key features that will be attractive to potential buyers in the US and the rest of the world too. For starters, Huawei have announced that their new OS will be compatible with all of the leading chips on the market today.
This is exciting because it means that Huawei won’t have to sacrifice on performance whilst using the Harmony OS, because they will be able to continue to develop phones with the chips we have become accustomed to seeing for fast, streamlined performances from our modern phones.
The Huawei Harmony OS will also be compatible with Wi-Fi. Whilst of course we’d expect to see this, with the development of a new OS so quickly, it’s nice to hear that the company have been able to reassure its customers that they will still have access to all the things they are used to.
Along similar lines, the Huawei Harmony OS will also be capable of handling the high specs we have come to expect from cameras on our phones today. In many ways, there won’t be much difference between Harmony OS and Android.
Another exciting feature included in the Harmony OS is the connectivity capabilities of it. If you’re a fan of Huawei products then you already know the company isn’t just limited to phones, they produce laptops, desktops, TV’s and much more.
The Huawei Harmony OS is specifically designed to reach across all of these smart devices to keep you fully connected at all times.
Whilst we’re not yet sure how exactly this will work, it’s certainly something to be excited about as other companies and OS might start heading down a similar route to keep connectivity across devices at the top of their priority list for future developments.
Huawei Harmony OS is quite keen to point out their security and trustworthiness online too. Whilst we aren’t here to fall down on either side of the Huawei reputation debate, it is worth pointing out that the Harmony OS is fully certified and has passed formal verification.
How much stock you put in that is entirely up to you, we’re just here to point out the process that Harmony OS has had to go through in order to get to this point so quickly.
Conclusion
We’ve said multiple times throughout this article that we aren’t here to get political or weigh in on the reputation debate surrounding Huawei.
What we do know though, is tech, and the Huawei Harmony OS does seem to be a powerful OS capable of supporting the high level specs we have come to expect from Huawei’s phones.
With the Huawei P50 Pro expected to be announced sometime in March (as they did with the P40 version of the phone last year), we will certainly be keeping an eye on whether or not the new Harmony OS has led to any compromise in the performance of the final product.
If the tech is as impressive as expected, and the new OS seems to be allowing the device to perform at its best, then whether or not to purchase the phone outside of China will largely depend on individual preference.
It remains to be seen just how damaged Huawei’s reputation really is, and the first real test will come with the expected release of the P50 series in 2021. Can their new OS go some way to boosting sales outside of China? We don’t know, but we’ll certainly be watching.