As Huawei continues to deal with uncertainty over its future US relations and its access to the Android and Windows operating systems, it’s been busy working on in-house OS replacements to plug potential gaps – and a new name for them just surfaced.
Huawei has registered the name “Harmony” with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, reports LetsGoDigital, which may end up being the name of the software used on Huawei phones and laptops in the future.
The application mentions both “mobile operating systems” and “computer operating systems”, so it sounds like an all-encompassing software platform – or at least one that shares the same name.
File this alongside other names we’ve heard for Huawei’s own-brand OS, including Hongmeng and Ark. It’s possible that Huawei might use different labels in different regions if its access to Android and Windows gets cut.
Besides the actual Harmony name, the trademark application doesn’t reveal too much else about what Huawei is plotting. We do know that these operating system projects have been in the pipeline for several years, but friction with the US means they might be needed more urgently.
Like iOS, the operating system is also expected to double-down on user privacy, with Huawei’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei saying earlier this month that the company would never share users’ data with the Chinese government, the way Apple never provides sensitive data to any company or agency.
“We will never do such a thing. If I had done it even once, the US would have evidence to spread around the world. Then the 170 countries and regions in which we currently operate would stop buying our products, and our company would collapse,” he was quoted as saying.
“After that, who would pay the debts we owe? Our employees are all very competent, so they would resign and start their own companies, leaving me alone to pay off our debts. I would rather die.”
