Huawei has recently filed a number of trademarks related to HarmonyOS in China, giving rise to industry speculation that the self-developed operating system (OS) could be applied to new products the firm will release this year.
Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, unveils the HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, during the Huawei Developer Conference held in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, Aug. 9, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)
Information from business data query platform Qichacha showed the Chinese tech giant applied for multiple trademarks including HUAWEI HarmonyOS, HarmonyOS Connected and HarmonyOS Linked on June 19.
The move came amid an intensified US crackdown on the Chinese tech firm. In May, the Trump administration moved to block global chip supplies to the already blacklisted Huawei.
Industry analysts said the Huawei Mate Watch will be the first smartwatch to use HarmonyOS, and that the OS is expected to be tested on more devices such as watches and PCs before it can finally be used on Huawei smartphones.
Veteran industry analyst Ma Jihua said the operating system was "premature," forcibly released under the US crackdown on the firm, and there are still many issues yet to be fixed before it can be used on smartphones.
Huawei released HarmonyOS in August last year. It is widely considered to be a second option to replace Google's Android OS amid the US crackdown. The company said that Huawei can "use its own OS anytime if needed."
Huawei has also unveiled its first product equipped with HarmonyOS - a new smart TV under its Honor brand.
