Huawei's Own Mobile OS Is A Really Bad Idea

A string of rumors from the past few months have indicated that Huawei is preparing its own OS for the mobile segment and it is very likely that in the upcoming months, a device or two will be making an appearance with this OS.

They are going into an ecosystem in which many have tried, none have succeeded. The examples are out there. Samsung released its own Tizen OS and tested it on a couple of smartphones. Result? You didn't even know it existed.

The reports state that a team in Scandinavia which includes some Ex-Nokia Engineers too is working on a homegrown OS for Huawei devices. They also hired a former Apple designer for the reskin and upgradation of their Emotion User Interface on Android. All this points to one single thing, Huawei is making its own OS and it is fair to think that they expect to run by some percentage.

What The Facts Say?

There have been a variety of experimentations in the mobile OS sector. The average number of people are aware of only a few which are: Android, iOS and Windows Phone plus to a certain degree Amazon Fire OS. There are many others in this area which are a lot less popular, Mozilla Firefox OS, Tizen and who is not aware about BlackBerry. Here is dissection of them bit by bit:

Mozilla FireFox OS: Released in 2013, Mozilla pulled the plug on their Firefox after a small 2 year span in the market. Why? Their web-first approach meant there could only be a handful of web apps running across the budget level devices. A handful of apps meant a handful of users plus a few OEMs were willing to ship their products with their OS. Mozilla unfortunately learned that the hard way.

Tizen: While I won't say that Tizen is a flop because it is meant more for the IoT sector rather than the general mobile segment, Samsung has experimented with it with a couple of phones. Samsung Z series is based on this OS but the general user reception has been average. Samsung is smart though, there execution of this OS was really good, it is open source and is HTML5 plus they created various competitions with handsome prizes for people who came out with the best app for their OS. But still even after a year in the market, things look bleak for it.

BlackBerry OS: The former leader in mobile handsets but then the iPhone was launched. While BlackBerry wasn't the only one who was rooted out of the market, their late adoption of the modern standards is what cost them the epic glory in today's world. Just last day BlackBerry got kicked out of the US Senate in favor of Apple iPhone SE and a Samsung variant. One wonders what is next.

Symbian: While this OS is actually dead thanks to Android, one can learn a thing or 2 from its failure in the market. It was extremely buggy plus simple changes forsay language adjustment would be extremely complicated.

Amazon Fire OS: Amazon Fire OS is probably one of the top performers in this category. Most likely because it is somewhat a modded version of the Android and has approximately all the apps there is plus the combination of features are present. 

What Huawei Can Learn?

If Huawei were to release their own OS today, they really need to keep in mind the following things for the development of their own:

• Open Source 
• HTML5 Is A Must
• No Compromises On Apps
• Distinct Features 
• OS Should Be A Multi Segment

Open Source

Huawei's OS must be Open Source in order to attract the developer community. Most other OSes are open source and if Huawei makes a big mistake of making restricting their OS to themselves. Many OEMs have benefitted from this.

HTML5 

One of qualities of Tizen OS is HTML5 which shortens the development cycles as well as reducing the costs to make an app. Huawei should try to develop their OS on this too for a similar advantage and to boost attractiveness on developers.

Apps

Apps are the primary limelight of every operating system. It used separates a business based smartphone and a consumer based smartphone but now we have seen that both these categories are mixing up. Up front interaction and empowerment as well as exclusive benefits to the developers is a must if Huawei intends to develop an OS which the public likes.

Distinct Features

Customization and features as well as the ability to personalize the OS are key to user retention. Take Oxygen OS as an example. It is Android under the hood but its exclusive set of features. And the people love it.

Multi Segmentation

If Huawei releases its OS in the public, there should be a base of smartphones alongside it to back it up. One should be for the budget end market, one for the middle sector and one should be a flagship. All this should be done in order to showcase the performance of the OS across different segments of the mobile market.

Lack Of Maturity

If Huawei compromises on either of the above stated qualities or any other, then be well aware that OS will not fare well in this highly competitive market. Their smartphones have just begun to gain traction from the United States and European market. If their OS is not up to the mark then they should be prepared to say goodbye to that little traction too.

Development Costs Are Too Much

Huawei is ambitious at this moment regarding their OS. The cost to develop, maintain as well as promote the OS, not to mention the marketing struggles they will face afterwards are a huge burden. You can't just develop an OS and leave it as it is. Bugs are discovered which remain dormant for a lot of time and can be exploited by hackers through various. Controlling controversies is another matter altogether. Huawei doesn't have a good experience in the software side I might add.

Will People Adopt It?

And then the ultimate question is will people be willing to experiment with Huawei? Perhaps they might chunk out some cash for the lower end variant but it is highly unlikely that the majority will buy a flagship priced unit. But I'll leave this question to you, what are your thoughts regarding Huawei's upcoming OS? Will it be a high performer? Let us know!