Huawei Planning to Allocate $1.5 Billion to Attract Software Creators
Hear ye, hear ye! The mighty Chinese tech titan, Huawei, has just dropped a bombshell: they're splashing a whopping $1.5 billion into its developer program over the next five years. The goal? Lure in app developers to jump ship and support ol' Huawei's platform.
With over 1.3 million developers and 14,000 independent software vendors already in its roster, thanks to the Huawei developer program, this investment aims to boost the ranks of its HarmonyOS ecosystem. This fancy schmancy OS is designed to make waves across a slew of devices, including smartphones, wearables, and televisions.
Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei, reckons HarmonyOS is a game-changer, stating it's "completely different from Android and iOS" because of its multi-device capability. Oh, and did we mention it'll be open-source? Boom.
But hold your horses, folks! Early reports aren't exactly painting a rosy picture for HarmonyOS. The supposedly mighty ARK Compiler, the tool meant to make migrating existing Android apps to HarmonyOS a cinch, isn't quite up to snuff according to a swarm of Chinese firms testing it. Seems like Huawei's demo app is one big, buggy mess.
Now, you might've heard about the drama earlier this year when Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom et al. called it quits with Huawei due to a US government ban. With that move, Huawei's cookin' up a plan to make its services and gadgets less reliant on US-based tech.
The Mate 30, Huawei's flagship phone, will likely run Android, and there's no word yet on whether it'll be able to access Google's services, like the Google Play Store. That could make a big difference in sales, especially in western markets that are hopelessly addicted to their favourite apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google Maps, and a whole lot more.
Thomas Husson, Vice President & Principal Analyst at Forrester, puts it bluntly: "Huawei will struggle in Europe due to the lack of the Google Play Store." The struggle is real, especially when retailers might be hesitant to peddle Huawei's devices without popular apps.
Huawei's betting big on those dev dollars to bring in more developers to its ecosystem, but with Android and iOS still looming large in the market, we'll just have to wait and see how this gamble pans out.
Credits go to Techcrunch, Nikkei, and xda-developers for the media goodness.
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Investing in Huawei's developer program for $1.5 billion over the next five years could potentially attract more app developers to support its HarmonyOS ecosystem, which aims to compete across multiple device types like smartphones, wearables, and televisions. However, the success of the platform might hinge on overcoming challenges with the ARK Compiler and securing access to popular apps, especially in western markets where such apps are highly sought after, posing a significant hurdle for Huawei in penetrating the competitive mobile operating system market.
