Should Huawei succeed in achieving widespread adoption of its HarmonyOS, the Chinese tech giant—and by extension, China—would have a more self-reliant tech stack that isn’t vulnerable to U.S. restrictions.
While it seems easy to make fun of HarmonyOS, I’m not so sure it won’t be able to achieve some of it’s goal of over taking Android in China. The main reason being direct backing from the PRC government. In the US, EU or other Western Countries, we’re used to this sort of choice being very much at the mercy of the Free Market. And there is really only one factor you need to win in that game…take it away, Mr. Sweaty Balmer.
Jokes aside, unless and until any new OS gets enough developers making apps for it, that OS is going nowhere in a Free Market. But, in China, the PRC government has a few levers it can pull to force the issue. For example, the PRC could require Baidu to stop making WeChat for Android. Or simply outlaw Android phones all together. While these things seem far fetched, keep in mind that this is the same government which decided rolling tanks over protestors was a-ok. Heavy handed tactics in the market, to insulate the domestic market from US sanctions, is all kinds of reasonable by comparison.
Do I expect HarmonyOS to take off outside China? Fuck no. No one in their right mind, outside of the shadow of the PRC’s boot, is going to choose it. But, that doesn’t mean there won’t still be an insane number of devices inside China running it.
There was a YT video from mrwhosetheboss recently whith him showing off harmony OS and it’s ecosystem… Looks like it could please a lot of people who aren’t into tech for a pile of reasons.
While it seems easy to make fun of HarmonyOS, I’m not so sure it won’t be able to achieve some of it’s goal of over taking Android in China. The main reason being direct backing from the PRC government. In the US, EU or other Western Countries, we’re used to this sort of choice being very much at the mercy of the Free Market. And there is really only one factor you need to win in that game…take it away, Mr. Sweaty Balmer.
Jokes aside, unless and until any new OS gets enough developers making apps for it, that OS is going nowhere in a Free Market. But, in China, the PRC government has a few levers it can pull to force the issue. For example, the PRC could require Baidu to stop making WeChat for Android. Or simply outlaw Android phones all together. While these things seem far fetched, keep in mind that this is the same government which decided rolling tanks over protestors was a-ok. Heavy handed tactics in the market, to insulate the domestic market from US sanctions, is all kinds of reasonable by comparison.
Do I expect HarmonyOS to take off outside China? Fuck no. No one in their right mind, outside of the shadow of the PRC’s boot, is going to choose it. But, that doesn’t mean there won’t still be an insane number of devices inside China running it.
“Free market.” Yeah. Sure.
Free … to use antitrust practices to win! Go free market yay. /s
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take it away, Mr. Sweaty Balmer
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There was a YT video from mrwhosetheboss recently whith him showing off harmony OS and it’s ecosystem… Looks like it could please a lot of people who aren’t into tech for a pile of reasons.
https://youtu.be/IhYDtLzmRQI?si=fAJJwAa7Ug438M3P
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/IhYDtLzmRQI?si=fAJJwAa7Ug438M3P
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.