Huawei has confirmed that HarmonyOS – a brand-new mobile operating system designed to rival Google’s version of Android will launch in 2021. The new OS was first announced back in summer last year, with a beta for the operating system recently launching ahead of a full release in the new year.
HarmonyOS will be available on new Huawei devices, and will also be offered as an upgrade to existing devices running the Android-powered EMUI operating system. .According to Huawei, HarmonyOS will land on the P50 before any other handsets.
It remains to be seen whether upgrades for existing Huawei devices rollout around the same time or afterwards. But either way, it looks like the P50 line-up will be one of – if not the – first Huawei phones to run the general release of HarmonyOS.
It’s been reported that the P50 devices will launch in the first quarter of 2021, so we could see HarmonyOS up and running and in the wild by the end of next March.
It remains to be seen when owners of existing Huawei devices – such as the P40 Pro and Mate 40 – will be able to jump ship from Android to HarmonyOS. However, according to the rumour mill, the P30 Pro is quite far down the pecking order.
Huawei has set lofty targets for HarmonyOS, aiming to have the software installed on over 100million devices within its first year. This target would encompass the wide range of devices HarmonyOS is able to run on, which besides smartphones includes wearables, smart TVs and even in-car entertainment systems.
