This archive report was first published on 8 July 2019.
On June 11, 2019, Huawei's new operating system, HongMeng OS, was expected to launch in Q3, as a potential solution to the company's problems following the Android ban imposed by the Trump administration.
As the largest smartphone vendor in China, Huawei's registration of a 'HongMeng' trademark in several countries sparked speculation about the name of its OS, and it appears that HongMeng is indeed the name of the operating system.
According to an interview with French magazine Le Point, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei discussed the capabilities of HongMeng OS, stating that it is 'likely' to be faster than Android, with a report from GlobalTimes suggesting it is 60% faster.
Zhengfei also highlighted the operating system's ability to connect multiple devices, including phones, cars, and data centers, with a processing delay of fewer than 5 milliseconds. He emphasized that HongMeng is designed to move towards a smart society, where all objects can be connected simultaneously.
While boasting about the capabilities of HongMeng OS, Zhengfei acknowledged that Huawei lacks a serious alternative to Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store, and the company is working to create that alternative.
With the US ban still in place, it remains unclear whether future Huawei phones will run on Android or HongMeng OS, but the company is already testing HongMeng OS in its phones in China.