Huawei's New Phone Released... Independent OS Following Semiconductor Independence

Ahead of US Mass Semiconductor Sanctions...
Unveiling 'Mate 70' with Proprietary OS Applied

China's largest telecommunications equipment company, Huawei, unveiled its latest smartphone 'Mate 70' equipped with an independently developed operating system (OS). Amid the United States preparing additional sanctions against Chinese semiconductor companies, Huawei is showing independence not only in mobile semiconductors but also in its OS.

On the 26th, Huawei unveiled its new smartphone Mate 70 at a Huawei store set up in a shopping center in Beijing. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Huawei announced the Mate 70 and other new products at the 'Mate Brand Event' held on the 26th at the International Convention Center in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. The event was also broadcast live online.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said at the event, "The Mate 70 is the most powerful Mate phone ever." He added, "It is equipped with a satellite calling system that allows sending text messages even without a base station," and "the application processor (AP) has also been improved."

CEO Richard Yu also revealed an AI transfer feature that allows data transfer between devices with a simple hand gesture through a separate video released the day before.

The Mate 70 is showing signs of success, with over 3 million pre-orders in China alone. The phone is equipped with Huawei's own OS, 'Hongmeng (鴻蒙·Harmony) OS Next.'

Hongmeng OS Next is Huawei's independent operating system. It was developed independently after Huawei abandoned the Android open-source code it had been using in August 2019 due to U.S. sanctions.

The Mate 70 is the first flagship smartphone to apply Hongmeng OS Next. Unlike previous OS versions, it is not compatible with Android, marking a complete break from the Android ecosystem. AFP reported that this smartphone is "a key test for Huawei to challenge the dominance of Western tech giants."

According to major foreign media, this smartphone is considered "an important step in Huawei's software independence following the U.S. sanctions that blocked access to Google services." It is expected that the U.S. will add up to 200 Chinese semiconductor companies to its trade blacklist later this week.

The Mate 70 is reportedly equipped with Huawei's self-developed 6nm (nanometer, one billionth of a meter) processor 'Kirin 9100.' This represents a technological advancement compared to the Mate 60 series released in August last year, which used the 7nm process AP 'Kirin 9000s' developed with in-house technology.