Just now, Huawei made a major announcement!

"Having a base and an ecology is the real operating system." On January 18, at the long-warm Hongmeng Ecological Thousand Sails launch ceremony, Yu Chengdong, executive director of Huawei, CEO of End Point BG, and chairperson of Smart Car Solutions BU, publicly shouted.

On the same day, Huawei announced that the HarmonyOS NEXT Hongmeng Galaxy Edition is open to developers, and this latest version of the Hongmeng system is also referred to as "pure blood Hongmeng". In Yu Chengdong’s words, HarmonyOS NEXT does not rely on the traditional Unix kernel and Linux kernel, but relies on the independent Hongmeng kernel.

According to Huawei, more than 200 leading applications have accelerated the native development of Hongmeng, and the native application landscape has taken shape. Huawei said it hopes that by the end of 2024, more than 5,000 native applications will join Hongmeng’s ecosystem, just like the theme of this event – "The stars are bright, and a thousand sails set sail".

Hongmeng kernel based on autonomy

The Thousand Sails Sailing Ceremony held on January 18 was packed and there were many spectators, which was enough to reflect the attention of Hongmeng Ecology.

"In the past, the operating system mainly came from the United States. Now, Hongmeng OS comes from China. Based on open source, Huawei will work with developers around the world to create an operating system that connects everything," Mr. Yu said at the event.

He stressed that Hongmeng Ecology will embark on a new ecological path and is committed to building a strong and thriving ecosystem with developers around the world.

Yu Chengdong reviewed the history of the Hongmeng system since its inception in 2019. "The day the Hongmeng system was officially released (August 9, 2019) happened to be my birthday, which was also a coincidence, not a deliberate arrangement." Yu Chengdong revealed his "origin" with the Hongmeng system.

In 2020, when Huawei was sanctioned, Yu Chengdong shouted again: "No one can extinguish the starlight in the sky".

Today, Hongmeng had successfully created a full-scene operating system for the interconnection of all things. In Yu Chengdong’s words today, he explained: "Today, Hongmeng’s ecological trend has been set, and the sky is full of stars, which will eventually merge into a bright galaxy."

At the launch event, Huawei announced that HarmonyOS NEXT Hongmeng Galaxy Edition is open to developers for application. Hongmeng Galaxy Edition will achieve six native experiences: native delicacy, native ease of use, native fluency, native security, native intelligence, and native interconnection.

HarmonyOS NEXT has attracted much attention because it is referred to as "pure blood Hongmeng". Yu Chengdong also revealed at the event that HarmonyOS NEXT is based on Hongmeng kernel, which is more optimized than the traditional Unix kernel and Linux kernel, and is more suitable for the diversity of all-scene devices.

Previously, Huajin Securities had analyzed in a research report that unlike Android based on the design of Linux macro kernel, Hongmeng system adopts a micro-kernel architecture, which retains only the most basic and core services at the kernel level, reduces the impact of single module errors in the kernel on the overall system, is better than Android system in stability, and is easier to carry out modular expansion.

native app layout molding

"With a base and an ecosystem, it is the real operating system." Yu Chengdong emphasized at the event. In addition to the Hongmeng kernel, which represents the root technology of the base, the Hongmeng ecosystem is also the focus of market attention.

Previously, at the Huawei Developer Conference in August 2023, Yu Chengdong officially announced that the number of Hongmeng ecological equipment reached 700 million units. But after only 5 months, Hongmeng ecological equipment has now grown to 800 million units.

In particular, Huawei’s mobile phone business resumed strongly in 2023, and Hongmeng Systems quickly gained share. In the second half of 2023, Huawei released the Mate 60 series; in December 2023, Huawei released the nova12 series. In addition, Huawei is expected to release the P70 series of mobile phones in the first half of 2024.

In addition, Huawei has been actively seeking the support of partners in the construction of Hongmeng ecosystem. Huawei revealed that there are currently more than 200 leading applications to accelerate the native development of Hongmeng, and the native application landscape has taken shape.

Many partners, including Ant Group and China UnionPay, have opened up their vertical innovation capabilities, and together with Hongmeng’s base capabilities, they have provided developers with efficient full-link power builders to further accelerate Hongmeng’s native application development.

According to Huawei’s expectations, it hopes that by the end of 2024, more than 5,000 native applications will join Hongmeng Ecology. In addition, Hongmeng Campus Open Course has entered 135 colleges and universities, 305 college students have participated in Hongmeng activities, 286 companies have participated in Hongmeng Ecology School, and more than 380,000 developers have passed Hongmeng certification.

In the eyes of the industry, Huawei has shown the vigorous development and growth of the Hongmeng ecosystem to the outside world through this event, indicating that the Hongmeng operating system and its related applications continue to gain market recognition. This event also means that more partners will join the Hongmeng ecosystem and jointly promote the development of the Hongmeng ecosystem.

It is worth noting that Zhou Hongyi, the founder and chairperson of 360 Group, also came to the scene. He laughed at the event and said, "Huawei always gnaws on the hardest bones, and 360 has always stood with Huawei and supports Huawei unconditionally under any circumstances."

He said that in the future, a number of high-quality applications under 360 will join the Hongmeng ecosystem, bringing a smoother, smarter and safer user experience. He also called on all parties in the industry to join the Hongmeng ecosystem. "Hongmeng will definitely become the largest operating system in China."

During the year or with a focus on head application migration

In fact, 2024 is also regarded as the first year of the rapid development of Hongmeng’s native applications.

In the industry’s view, on the one hand, Hongmeng system has accumulated a good ecological foundation. The industry expects that by the end of 2024, the total number of Hongmeng ecological equipment will reach 1 billion units.

On the other hand, as of December 2023, more than 400 partners have started the development of Hongmeng native applications, covering 18 fields such as games, social communication, travel navigation, business office, and travel accommodation. Also as of December 2023, nearly half of the top 20 mobile Internet applications have started the development of Hongmeng native applications.

In addition to the initial formation of the ecological map, Huajin Securities also believes that Hongmeng System also has the advantages of distributed and meta-service technology. According to the agency’s analysis, Hongmeng System uses distributed technology and has the ability to cross platforms and devices, not only for personal end points such as mobile phones, but also for connecting to various smart end point devices such as smart homes and autonomous driving, and can operate efficiently and collaboratively among multiple devices.

At the same time, the agency pointed out that the Hongmeng system supports the development of meta-services, allowing developers to decompose applications into multiple meta-services for independent development and combine them into complex applications according to scenarios, which greatly enhances the efficiency of application development and deployment.

In addition, compared to Android, Hongmeng system is more secure. Android rights management is relatively decentralized, resulting in some apps may over-collect user information. Hongmeng system, on the other hand, greatly enhances user data security by prohibiting direct access to sensitive resources and locking all functions independently. Hongmeng system does not have traditional root rights, which further reduces the risk of malicious software.

Based on the current situation, Shengang Securities judged that it may take a certain period of time for Hongmeng Ecology to complete the ecological construction. The agency analyzed that in 2024, Hongmeng Ecology may mainly focus on the migration of head applications. In the next 1 to 2 years, Hongmeng Ecology may gradually expand to waist and tail applications.