Huawei has no plan to launch Harmony OS phone this year

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NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), the company's first 5G-enabled smartphone, is pictured during an interactive reception in New York, the United States, on Aug. 21, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei would continue enhancing its transparency and regard itself as a public-listed company, an executive said on Wednesday.

Beijing,  Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei has officially denied its plans to launch a smartphone with its home-brewed Harmony operating system (OS) this year.

Vincent Yang, Senior Vice President, Huawei, said in a media event in New York that the company has no plans to launch a Harmony OS-powered smartphone in the coming months, GSMArena reported on Thursday.

“Huawei would like to maintain its current Android ecosystem on smartphones and will only use Harmony OS as a plan B in the case sanctions are again imposed on it,” Yang said.

In the wake of the US-China trade war, the company has recently launched its own operating system which is aimed to reduce the company’s reliance on the Google-developed Android OS.

Focused on improved cross-platform working, Harmony OS would work across a wide range of devices, including smart speakers, automobiles, computers, smartwatches and wireless earbuds apart from smartphones and tablets.

In addition, to be on a par with Google Maps, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is also planning to unveil its own mapping service known as Map Kit.

Map Kit would offer developers a street navigation system as well as a way to show users real-time traffic conditions. It would support augmented-reality mapping and would not be for direct consumer use.