The first official version of a mobile phone with the native HarmonyOS will be released. How can the "circle of friends" of the HarmonyOS ecosystem achieve a positive cycle?

"The official version of the native HarmonyOS is coming!"

On March 12, Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei, Chairman of the Consumer BG, and Chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solution BU, said excitedly. In the video, Yu Chengdong reviewed a set of data: Since the public beta in October 2024, the native HarmonyOS has collected more than 4 million user feedbacks, promoted the system to complete more than 30 iterations, and added more than 150 new features. Currently, more than 20,000 native HarmonyOS applications and meta - services have been launched, and more than 20 apps such as WeChat, Douyin, Alipay, Gaode Map, and JD.com have each exceeded 2 million downloads.

Next week, the first mobile phone equipped with the official version of the native HarmonyOS will also be launched.

How did this domestic mobile operating system, which was born in adversity and has been controversial since its birth, reach this stage? What has it brought to ecological partners and users?

The "Friend Circle" of HarmonyOS Keeps Expanding

It must be admitted that at the beginning of its launch, after the initial cheers, the so - called "pure - blooded HarmonyOS" also received "negative reviews": Many applications were not fully compatible, with missing functions; commonly used software had not been migrated, and the system stability was insufficient. These minor errors, when perceived by users, led to a wave of complaints.

HarmonyOS was initially a system for the Internet of Things (IoT) field, and HarmonyOS NEXT (i.e., the native HarmonyOS) developed for mobile devices also adheres to this concept: By using a distributed architecture, developers can achieve multi - terminal deployment with a single development, and create a unified ecosystem and experience across various hardware devices such as digital products, home appliances, and automobiles. For example, this means that users can seamlessly switch a video call from the HarmonyOS on their mobile phones to tablets, in - car screens, or even TV screens.

On the other hand, application manufacturers that have been operating stably on iOS and Android systems for many years also need to migrate their applications to the HarmonyOS, adapting to its technical framework and programming language, which is almost equivalent to re - developing the applications.

Facing the millions of consumer - oriented application markets, this is not a task that can be accomplished in a short period.

That's why the more than 4 million user feedbacks mentioned by Yu Chengdong represent both the eagerness of users to experience the "domestic pure - blooded" operating system and their earnest calls for improvement after the experience.

In February, Yu Chengdong also responded intensively to these feedbacks. Through social media platforms, Yu Chengdong and He Gang, CEO of Huawei's Consumer BG, interacted with partners on their official Weibo accounts for a whole week:

When it comes to Weibo, Yu Chengdong mentioned "Mr. Lai" - Wang Gaofei, the CEO of Weibo, saying that the HarmonyOS version of Weibo now supports directly using the system's original camera to take pictures and post on Weibo, and can also publish dynamic photos, providing a smooth experience. Regarding payment, Huawei users' commendable intelligent payment ability has been integrated with Alipay, enabling screen recognition and one - click payment without launching any application.

In terms of office applications that concern office workers, He Gang posted a photo of himself with Zhang Qingyuan at the Kingsoft headquarters, saying that the native HarmonyOS version of WPS Office has been officially launched, and they are optimizing the value - added services for super members and polishing its AI capabilities. He also congratulated DingTalk on exceeding one million downloads on HarmonyOS, saying that the team in their joint operation room "turned their dream into reality in more than 400 days."

Not only DingTalk, but more than 20 apps such as WeChat, Douyin, Alipay, Gaode Map, and JD.com have each exceeded 2 million downloads. In addition, the official accounts of many leading applications such as Air Travel Master, Gaode Map, Ctrip, and Himalaya have also interacted frequently with them, and the comment sections are filled with users' expectations.

The official version of the native HarmonyOS itself has also made amazing improvements. It has not only enhanced the edge - side AI capabilities, improved the seamless transfer experience across devices and the overall system fluency, but also provided a more robust security barrier for privacy protection.

Facing the era of the Internet of Everything, the native smoothness, native intelligence, native security, and native connectivity of HarmonyOS are becoming the reasons for more and more consumers to use the pure - blooded HarmonyOS as their main operating system. This is also its core competitiveness in the race to become the third - pole of mobile operating systems.

Developer Dividends, Prying Open a New Blue Ocean of 1 Billion Devices

Five years ago, at the developer conference during Huawei's difficult times, Yu Chengdong once said: "Every developer is a spark that Huawei wants to gather, and a single spark can start a prairie fire." HarmonyOS has always attached great importance to its ecological partners.

In the past year, the native HarmonyOS has become the common choice of all leading manufacturers in the Chinese Internet industry. This is not only due to the natural benefits brought by a new operating system and application store - after all, even during the period when HarmonyOS was compatible with Android, some developers had already benefited from it. More importantly, it is a window to the intelligent era of multi - device compatibility.

Take the national - level application WeChat as an example. Its native HarmonyOS version enables seamless transfer of the video call interface between mobile phones, tablets, and in - car systems. The inference model DeepSeek - R1, which shocked the AI industry, has been integrated with the intelligent voice assistant Xiaoyi, and combined with Huawei's Pangu large - model, its semantic understanding ability has been tripled. Now, users can use dialects, ask Xiaoyi to generate code, perform mathematical reasoning, and generate pictures on the HarmonyOS system.

For developers, one - time development and multiple - terminal deployment is the most direct way to improve work efficiency. Hardware manufacturers can efficiently complete intelligent IoT transformation through HarmonyOS, increasing device activation rates and user experiences. Software manufacturers can achieve the effect of one - time investment and multi - terminal display, reducing adaptation costs.

Developing an operating system is only 1% of the work, and the remaining 99% depends on the ecosystem. This is a truth verified by the other two major operating systems. HarmonyOS not only needs to attract leading applications but also call on a large number of manufacturers below the leading level to participate in the ecological construction.

Early on, HarmonyOS built an ecological platform with low entry barriers and high returns for developers. Its own open - source community provides developers with full - link development kits and technical documentation. For excellent cases, HarmonyOS has also generously launched the Native HarmonyOS Application Developer Incentive Program, offering generous cash and traffic support resources. Individual developers can receive a maximum cash reward of 100,000 RMB, and enterprises and service providers can receive a maximum reward of 1 million RMB. Excellent applications can also be recommended through AppGallery to get more traffic support.

There are also a large number of intelligent terminal devices behind HarmonyOS. As of the end of 2024, the number of HarmonyOS ecological devices has exceeded 1 billion. In 2025, many Huawei models and terminal devices will be upgraded to HarmonyOS one after another, and next week, the first mobile phone designed for the native HarmonyOS will be launched. Not long ago, some digital bloggers reported that in addition to mobile phones, earphones, and tablets, new product categories such as PCs may also join the HarmonyOS camp.

The number of ecological devices and the user scale are constantly expanding. The earlier developers enter the market, the more dividends they can get from this new field.

Ecological Nourishment, HarmonyOS Sets in Motion a Growth Flywheel

If 2024 was the year of accelerated development for the HarmonyOS ecosystem, 2025 will be the year of its maturity and completeness.

In this year's New Year message to all employees, Yu Chengdong set a goal: "In 2025, we need to intensively invest in the HarmonyOS ecosystem. 100,000 applications are the sign of an established ecosystem, and this is the key goal for the next six months to a year."

Looking back at the growth of the number of native HarmonyOS applications, in January 2024, the first batch of more than 200 application manufacturers tried it out. Two months later, this number increased by 20 times, reaching more than 4,000 in March 2024. One year later, it quietly multiplied by 100 times, reaching 20,000 at the beginning of 2025.

Against this backdrop, the goal of the native HarmonyOS to reach 100,000 applications no longer seems overly ambitious.

From the perspective of the most fundamental part of the industrial chain - the talent pool, HarmonyOS development engineers have become highly sought - after in the job market. Internet and hardware companies are intensively recruiting HarmonyOS - related technical positions, creating many new employment and training opportunities. According to data from Lagou Recruitment, as of November 2024, the number of newly posted positions for HarmonyOS development engineers increased by 16.57% compared with the same period last year, showing an obvious upward trend. At the same time, the average monthly recruitment salary of HarmonyOS development engineers increased by 11.91% compared with the same period last year, and their salary is 1.22 times that of other technical positions, showing an obvious premium compared with traditional development positions.

Similar to AI training courses, HarmonyOS - related development courses are also very popular. HarmonyOS - related development courses have entered 305 universities, and the HarmonyOS campus public courses have entered 135 universities. In addition, Huawei has jointly built the "Intelligent Foundation" 2.0 project with 72 universities to promote the integration of industry and education and cultivate talents in the information field, thus reserving a new force for the development of the HarmonyOS ecosystem.

Difficulties are the catalysts for growth, and desperate situations often hide the strongest vitality. With almost the highest - level resource investment from Huawei, the native HarmonyOS has become China's first independently controllable operating system with strong commercial value, and it may also be the most important one.

Just like in nature, an oasis nurtures living beings, and living beings nourish the land, creating a positive cycle of life. HarmonyOS has cultivated a fertile ecological soil, attracting many developers and partners to join. As the ecosystem continues to grow and mature, it in turn nourishes HarmonyOS itself.

This two - way interaction creates huge commercial value for all participants. Today, HarmonyOS is not just an operating system but also a living entity capable of self - growth and self - optimization. From being "usable" to being "user - friendly", from technical breakthroughs to ecological prosperity, perhaps the goal of 100,000 applications for the native HarmonyOS is just the beginning.