The Mate 70 is set to be unveiled at a company launch event on Tuesday afternoon at its Shenzhen headquarters.
More than three million have been pre-ordered, according to Huawei’s online shopping platform, though that does not require them to be purchased.
The risks are high – unlike a previous iteration, based on Android’s open-source code, HarmonyOS Next requires a complete rewiring of all apps on the smartphones it powers.
“HarmonyOS Next is the first home-grown operating system, a milestone for China to move away from reliance on Western technologies for software with performance improvement,” Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, told AFP.
But, “while Chinese firms may be willing to allocate resources to contribute to Huawei’s ecosystem, there are challenges to whether HarmonyOS Next can offer the same number of apps and functionalities to global consumers”, Ng said.
“HIGH EXPECTATIONS”
Huawei found itself at the centre of an intense tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington, with US officials warning its equipment could be used to spy on behalf of Chinese authorities – allegations they deny.
Since 2019, US sanctions have cut Huawei off from global supply chains for technology and US-made components, a move that initially hammered its production of smartphones.
That fight is only set to intensify under US President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised huge tariffs on Chinese imports in response to what he says are Beijing’s unfair trade practices.
“Rather than Huawei inspiring the tech industry as a whole, it is the self-reliance trend of the Chinese tech industry that has made Huawei’s progress possible,” Toby Zhu, a senior analyst at technology research firm Canalys, told AFP.
