The list of entities of the US Department of Commerce is not a pleasant place to be. Huawei has already lost its use licenses for Google services, and the same has happened with its Microsoft agreements to use Windows in the company’s laptops.
Huawei can continue to sell Windows laptops that are already in the market, but the production of new devices with this operating system depends on licenses, now subject to restrictions. The scope of them is global and will affect the availability of Huawei products with Windows in Europe. But the Chinese company has a plan.
The license agreement. Huawei now has with Microsoft the same situation as with Google. You cannot use your licenses in any of your new manufacturing products. As you had to say goodbye to Google on its Android mobiles, the company can no longer manufacture Windows computers.
Huawei’s response. Already in September 2024, before the imminent expiration of the license agreement, Richard Yu himself responded in an interview, he advanced that the current PCs of Huawei would be the last ones with Windows, and that those of the next generation would come from the hand of their own operating system, Harmonyos.
It is an answer that does not throw too many doubts in China, where Harmonyos Next is the clear commitment of the future. But in Europe the consumer profile is different, and the state of Harmonyos is very incipient.
HarmonyOS Next. Huawei is clear that the future of its software is to create a complete ecosystem in which PC, smartphone, smart watches and even electric vehicle are connected. For this, Harmonyos Next, a system without a trace of Android or Linux core, 100% own with a native kernel.
This is the beginning of the most ambitious software project ever executed by the company, a proposal that we will begin to see this year on PCs sold in China.
Linux always remains. Outside China, Harmonyos does not make too much sense, since the appus ecosystem is yet to be built. Just a few hours ago, the company announced the Huawei Mate X Pro in its versions 14 and 16 … executing Linux and running with an Intel Core Ultra 7.
It is exactly the same device as the company sold with Windows, but with a Linux environment and a change price of 1,352 euros (10,399 yuan). The laptop can already be bought in Vmall (as long as you live in China), and it is a whole and after for the company.
The doubt of Europe. Linux has a quota in Europe that is around 3.4%, a fact that makes it virtually impossible to get a device with this operating system to end up being a sales success. Losing Google’s services cost Huawei to lose its position in the smartphones market, and without a quick software response, the fate of its laptops seems similar.
Imagen | Huawei
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