Huawei is trying to come out of the issue it is facing with the US imposing a ban on American companies selling technology to the Chinese major. The company has not been able to push its smartphones in major markets without the latest Android OS support as well as without key Google apps like Gmail and Maps.
The company has developed an in-house OS called Harmony which it says is based on Android and is compatible with it. A sub brand Honor is launching a smartphone in the Indian market by the end of the year, the company has announced. The model to be launched is called the Honor 9X. They say it will have a smart screen that will mirror an Android phone.
Besides the smartphone, Honor may bring in a few internet of things (IoT) technology products into the Indian market. All these devices can be operated through the smartphone, the company claims.
The HarmonyOS has been demonstrated through Honor Vision and the Indian market may get to see a Honor Vision smart television soon. These televisions too can be controlled through the Honor smartphones. Huawei is negotiating with some OTT companies to bring in video entertainment on board its Honor Vision products trying to compete with the Android based content already popular in the market.
A new “1+8+N” strategy is being adopted by the Chinese company. A senior executive representing Honor says 1 here signifies smartphones while 8 is for Honor/Honor Vision products and N stands for the ecosystem partner. Among the products to be covered in this marketing strategy are Honor Watch, laptops, wrist bands, Honor glasses and so on. The ecosystem choices include mobile offices, smart homes, sports and health, audio-visual entertainment, and smart travel products.
The company may keep launching these Honor products one by one. There is still some lack of clarity on the operating system. The company’s representative says it will be based on customers’ choice and even open source OS can be considered.
The smart bands and smart watch will run Huawei’s own operating system.
Again, on the apps, the company claims its devices will be able to draw on the Android apps and serve the users of their Honor smartphones. It remains to be seen how far this will be feasible if Google will not be able to support them in any manner.