China’s Huawei Technologies will not support Android apps on the latest iteration of its in-house Harmony operating system, domestic financial media Caixin reported, as the company looks to bolster its own software ecosystem.

The company plans to roll out a developer version of its HarmonyOS Next platform in the second quarter of this year followed by a full commercial version in the fourth quarter, it said in a company statement highlighting the launch event for the platform in its home city of Shenzhen on Thursday.

Huawei first unveiled its proprietary Harmony system in 2019 and prepared to launch it on some smartphones a year later after US restrictions cut its access to Google’s technical support for its Android mobile OS.

However, earlier versions of Harmony allowed apps built for Android to be used on the system, which will no longer be possible, according to Caixin. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment.

Read: Huawei ends US lobbying efforts

Last August, Huawei unexpectedly launched its Mate60 series of smartphones, which are powered by a domestically developed chip et. The release was widely viewed as marking Huawei’s comeback into the high-end smartphone market after years of struggling under US sanctions.

The company expects 2023 revenue to exceed C¥700-billion yuan (R1.8-trillion), amounting to 9% year-on-year growth, according to an internal message last month.  — (c) 2024 Reuters

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