Huawei's own mobile OS said to be "far from ready"

The Huawei P30 Pro.

Huawei's own mobile OS may not be ready after all.

Sources told The Information that Huawei's own mobile OS, known internally as "Project Z", is "far from ready" despite it being in development for the past few years. "Project Z", which is also rumored to be called "HongMeng OS", has a unstable and rocky development process according to the sources.

The initial focus of the homegrown mobile OS was on the domestic Chinese market, where Huawei hoped to power an ecosystem of devices that runs on the next generation 5G network. However, trade tensions with the U.S forced Huawei to "accelerate the OS project".

The project’s focus has always been the domestic market, where Huawei hopes its operating system will power all kinds of devices—from phones to wearables to appliances—when China moves to the next-generation 5G wireless network.

In an exclusive interview with The Information, Huawei consumer CEO Richard Yu shared that the U.S export ban was a "big surprise" to him, and would force the company to launch its own OS and ecosystem. In fact, Huawei has been building its own app ecosystem for more than a year. It pitched to developers and European telcos to support its App Gallery store by offering attractive incentives.

Today's report contradicts Yu's statements during an interview with Die Welt in March when he shared that Huawei is ready to replace Android and Windows with its own OS if the need arises. Even if Huawei is able to roll out its mobile OS this year as some Chinese media publications have reported, it is near impossible for it to make any new phones.

Assuming that the trade war continues between the U.S and China, Huawei's future phones will be crippled as they do not have access to Google apps and services which include Android apps, OS and security updates. Huawei also cannot develop and manufacture future Kirin processors as ARM has suspended business with the company. There will be little or no alternative supply of components as more tech companies cut their ties with Huawei.

Let's hope that both countries are able to reach a trade deal before the 90-day reprieve expires.

Source: The Information via 9to5Google