Huawei is reportedly already testing out a smartphone installed with Hongmeng OS, the brand’s homemade OS. On top of that, there’s also talk that the Hongmeng-driven smartphone may go on sale in the consumer market by as early as the end of this year.
While no details were provided regarding the functionality of Hongmeng OS, China’s state-owned media outlet, Global Times, says that such a device would be sold around the 2000 Yuan (~RM1190) mark. A hint that Huawei may be targeting the entry-level market segment for distribution of the said device.
As interesting a phone running Hongmeng OS is, it is important to note that the Huawei had originally intended for the operating system to be used more in line with Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, rather than just a convenient replacement for Android.
The existence of Hongmeng OS came after the US’ Trump administration signed off on an executive order against the Huawei’s home country, China. To be precise, the order bans US companies from doing business with several companies based in China. Unsurprisingly, Huawei is one of the companies on the list.
One US companies affected by the ban is Google, who has been responsible for providing Huawei with access to its Android operating system for many years. And while a technicality would allow the search engine to continue providing updates for the Android OS on Huawei devices, the ban was undoubtedly the catalyst that brought about the creation of Hongmeng OS.
Google has also been an unlikely ally to Huawei, who persistently argues that purposely pushing Huawei out of the Android ecosystem would do more harm than good for US national security.
(Source: Global Times via Reuters)
