Huawei HarmonyOS Becomes More Popular Than Apple iOS in China

Under US sanctions since 2019, Chinese giant Huawei Technologies has been forced to push its own operating system, HarmonyOS, but it has seen limited adoption outside China. However, it managed to overtake iOS in popularity in its home market last quarter, although it still trails Android.

Image source: Huawei Technologies

A publication on the South China Morning Post website, based on statistics from Counterpoint Research, reports that a year earlier, HarmonyOS’s share of the Chinese market did not exceed 16%, but in the fourth quarter of last year it grew by 19%. Considering that Apple iOS’s share during this period fell from 20% to 17%, this ensured HarmonyOS’s leadership in China. However, Google Android’s position in China remained unshakable throughout the past year, at around 64%.

Image source: Counterpoint Research

In the global market, Google Android ended the last quarter with a 74% share, Apple iOS followed in second place with a 22% share. Chinese HarmonyOS was content with 4% of the global market throughout last year, while during 2023 its share grew from 2 to 3%. The further spread of HarmonyOS should be facilitated not only by Huawei’s decision to equip all new smartphones and tablets released this year with the new HarmonyOS Next operating system, but also by the program launched in China to subsidize the purchase of new mobile devices of local brands by citizens. In a certain price category, you can receive up to $69 in compensation from the state.

HarmonyOS Next is set to debut on March 20 with new Huawei devices. It has been available in beta since October last year. The platform is already ready to offer more than 20,000 apps and services, of which about 20 can boast more than 2 million downloads.