Will competitors use Hongmeng? China Mobile reveals the answer

Harmony OS 2 has been released, but many people still have questions about it. China Mobile Club (hereinafter referred to as China Mobile) published a long article to provide detailed answers to the Harmony OS.

Image source: Weibo

1. What is Hongmeng system and what level is it in the world?

Previously, there were two mainstream mobile phone operating systems in the world, one was Google's Android and the other was Apple's iOS. The familiar domestic mobile phone operating systems, such as Xiaomi's MIUI, OPPO's Color OS, vivo's Origin OS, and Huawei's previous EMUI, are all deeply customized based on Android and are essentially Android.

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Hongmeng is developed by Huawei and is the third largest operating system for mobile phones after Android and iOS. However, Hongmeng is not just a mobile phone operating system, and its mission is not to replace Android and iOS, because they are not first-generation products. Hongmeng is a new generation of "intelligent terminal" operating system for the Internet of Everything, that is, it can be used not only for mobile phones, but also for other smart devices. It can be said that it is one generation ahead of the current Android and iOS in terms of concept and is at the leading level in the world.

2. Why develop the Hongmeng system?

China Mobile believes that Huawei has two main purposes for developing the Hongmeng system:

The first is to serve as a backup, so that when the Android system is not allowed to be used, Hongmeng can take over as its own system. Later, Google really stopped supplying Android, which also proved how far-sighted Huawei's forward-looking move was.

The second is to take the lead in laying out the next-generation operating system and strive to be a leader in the 5G era. 3G and 4G technologies gave birth to the two major systems, Android and iOS, which realized the intelligence of mobile phones and determined the layout of the mobile Internet economy. In the 5G era, everything will be intelligent, and a simple mobile phone operating system will obviously not be able to adapt. It will inevitably require the emergence of the next-generation operating system. Taking the lead in laying out can gain an advantage in future competition. At present, Huawei has achieved the first step of the goal - Hongmeng system is the first next-generation operating system to be released and commercialized.

3. What are the differences in the use of Hongmeng system?

This can be explained from two aspects.

第一，对单独的一个手机而言，主要有以下几方面的显著变化：

1. Long-lasting smoothness and anti-aging. Mobile phones equipped with Hongmeng system run faster and smoother. Even after 3 years of use, when the storage is almost full, it can still be as smooth as a new phone.

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2. Background applications do not restart. We often have this experience when using Android phones. For example, you open JD.com, search for what you want, look at the price, and then open Tmall to compare prices. You find that JD.com is still the best deal. When you return to JD.com, you find that it has automatically restarted, so you have to search again. If it is a Hongmeng system, when you return to JD.com for the second time, it will not restart, and the page will still be the page you opened originally.

3. Longer battery life. The official data shows that the battery life of a Huawei Mate40 Pro equipped with Hongmeng system is 5.1 hours when playing "Peace Elite". In contrast, it is 4.7 hours when equipped with EMUI 11.

4. Changes in operation interaction. The Hongmeng mobile phone desktop adopts card-style interaction. Swipe up the APP icon to generate a universal card, presenting richer information. The information on the card is updated in real time and can be viewed without opening the APP. At the same time, the card can also be used to share with another user, and the other party can view it directly without downloading the relevant APP.

Second, the truly subversive experience of the Hongmeng system is mainly reflected in the interconnection of all things.

A set of Hongmeng system can be used for various smart devices, from doorbells, soymilk machines, electric ovens, air conditioners, watches, cars, and even industrial equipment. These devices in the Hongmeng ecosystem can be interconnected, serve as peripherals for each other, and can be arbitrarily combined into a super terminal.

Simply put, when you use multiple Hongmeng ecosystem devices, it's like using the same device. Since the 5G era has just begun, the power of Hongmeng system has not yet been fully exerted, and more subversive experience will come later.

4. Can Hongmeng system save Huawei phones?

This needs to be looked at from two aspects. On the one hand, if the Hongmeng ecosystem is successful and all competitors use the Hongmeng system, Huawei phones will not need to be saved.

Why? Because the Hongmeng ecosystem is the goal, and Huawei phones + its own hardware are just the means. There is a consensus in the industry: developing a system is relatively easy, and the most difficult thing is to build a good ecosystem. Think about it, when Huawei decided to develop the Hongmeng operating system for the 5G era, how to build a good ecosystem must be the first issue to consider.

If everyone develops their own IoT operating system, how can Huawei win? If Google Android and Apple iOS quickly launch their own IoT operating systems, how can Huawei win? Huawei can only do one thing, which is to build its own ecosystem first, so that it can gain an advantage in the competition with its rivals. This is the fundamental meaning of Huawei's mobile phones and its own hardware ecosystem that was determined from the beginning.

On the other hand, if other companies do not use Hongmeng system, Huawei phones will need to be saved. How to save them? Make good use of the existing Huawei phones in the market, continue to build its own ecosystem, and wait for the chip supply problem to be resolved. This can be done in the following two aspects.

First, all mobile phones that can be upgraded to the Hongmeng system will be upgraded.

Second, extend the life cycle of existing mobile phones. Yu Chengdong said that everyone can pick up old mobile phones and upgrade to Hongmeng system, which is a brand new experience. What if the hardware is outdated? Huawei will solve this problem by providing a series of replacement services, such as replacing the battery for 79 yuan; replacing the back cover, and replacing the glass with plain leather; and there is hope to upgrade the memory in the future.

The mission of existing mobile phones is to hold out until the chip supply problem is resolved and more friendly companies use the Hongmeng system.

5. Will friendly competitors use the Hongmeng system?

All hardware equipment manufacturers that connect to the Hongmeng system are considered friendly competitors, and the friendly competitors here mainly refer to mobile phone manufacturers.

There will definitely be friendly companies using Hongmeng OS. The reason is very simple. Hongmeng OS represents the future and is an operating system that is completely oriented to the 5G era. If you want to keep up with the times in the 5G era, the sooner you join Hongmeng OS, the better. Of course, switching from Android to Hongmeng OS also takes time and needs to be done step by step.

In addition, from a business perspective, there should be manufacturers who are unwilling to use Hongmeng. The competition in the era of the Internet of Everything has just begun, and some manufacturers have laid a good foundation and have the opportunity to participate in this competition that concerns the future. It is indeed unfair to let them overturn all existing achievements and choose Hongmeng. At the same time, if everyone chooses Hongmeng alone, it also means giving up other possibilities. What if there is a better solution? Whether or not to fully support Hongmeng involves huge interests, and it depends on the top-level design at the national level.