Huawei launches PCs running self-developed operating system

Chinese tech giant Huawei on Monday unveiled two laptops powered by HarmonyOS, marking the debut of its self-developed operating system on personal computers (PCs).

The launch of the Huawei MateBook Pro and MateBook Fold Ultimate Design signals the company's push to expand HarmonyOS beyond smartphones and tablets into a PC market long led by Microsoft's Windows and Apple's macOS.

At the launch event in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Huawei's executive director Yu Chengdong said that the HarmonyOS-powered computers integrated software, hardware, devices, and cloud services to fundamentally reshape the PC experience.

Huawei said HarmonyOS was the first Chinese operating system to unify mobile and desktop ecosystems, allowing developers to use a single toolset for deployment across devices, cutting technical barriers and development costs.

HarmonyOS, or Hongmeng in Chinese, is an open-source operating system designed for various devices and scenarios. Originally launched in 2019, it has since been applied across smartphones, tablets, wearables, smart home appliances, and new energy vehicles.

Analysts said Chinese companies had launched domestic computer operating systems before, but those were mostly derivative works built on the open-source Linux kernel, lacking a truly independent technology system.

The development and launch of HarmonyOS PCs took five years and involved over 10,000 research and development (R&D) personnel, with more than 2,700 patents filed, according to Huawei.

Yang Zhusong, an associate researcher at Tsinghua University, said the launch of PCs powered by HarmonyOS marks a major step forward in China's efforts to overcome its overreliance on foreign core technologies.

Yang expects HarmonyOS to become the world's third major PC operating system in the foreseeable future.

HarmonyOS-powered computers now support connectivity with over 1,100 external devices. Its application ecosystem spans a wide range of scenarios, including office work, finance and investment, entertainment, education, and gaming. More than 1,000 ecosystem-compatible applications are already available, and the number is expected to surpass 2,000 by year-end, Huawei said.

Based in Shenzhen, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communication technology infrastructure and smart devices. It generated 862.1 billion yuan (about 120 billion U.S. dollars) in sales revenue in 2024, up from 704.2 billion yuan the previous year, according to its 2024 annual report.

In 2024, Huawei invested 179.7 billion yuan back into R&D, which accounted for approximately 20.8 percent of its annual revenue. Altogether, the company's R&D investment over the past decade exceeded 1.249 trillion yuan, according to the annual report.