Hongmeng OS Isn’t an Android Replacement, Huawei Executive Says

Hongmeng OS is not as complex as a smartphone OS and hence is very secure, VP Catherine Chen says.

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 19 July 2019 18:30 IST

Hongmeng OS Isn’t an Android Replacement, Huawei Executive Says

Huawei recently applied for Hongmeng OS trademark in nine countries

Highlights

Huawei has now confirmed that it will stick to Android for phones
Hongmeng OS is being developed for industrial use
SVP Catherine Chen details Hongmeng OS in an interview

Huawei's upcoming Hongmeng operative system that was rumoured to be an Android alternative is not meant for smartphones, a company executive has said. Earlier last month, the company was reported to have applied to trademark its Hongmeng OS in at least nine countries after the imposed trade ban by the US government. However, Huawei board member and senior Vice President Catherine Chen now reportedly says that the new operating system is not meant for smartphones. In fact, she goes on to add that the company intends to continue using Google's Android OS for its phones.

Chen told Chinese media that the Hongmeng operating system is meant for industrial use, and was under development long before the company even started looking for an Android OS alternative. She added that the company still intends to use Android OS for its smartphones in the future.

Speaking about Hongmeng, Chen noted that the operating system contains much less lines of codes than a smartphone OS – thus making it very secure. The new operating system will also have extreme low latency compared with a smartphone operating system, she revealed.

With this confirmation, it can be said that Hongmeng OS is not the Android alternative it was previously reported out to be.

Chen's latest statements refute all claims made by Vice President of Huawei Technologies' Public Affairs and Communications Andrew Williamson, who said in an interview that the company will "presumably" trademark Hongmeng, which he said has likely been rolled out to a million devices in China.

However, this doesn't mean that Huawei isn't working on an Android OS alternative. Earlier this month, Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei revealed that Huawei is already at work on the development of Play Store and App Store alternatives and is already working with developers to achieve the objective.

Speaking about Hongmeng OS, Zhengfei said that it is ‘very likely' faster than Google's Android and Apple's macOS. He also revealed that Hongmeng OS is designed to be more versatile as it can run on a wide range of devices.

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