China's Huawei claims new smartphone will completely break away from Android

Huawei's latest phone claims to be the first phone to support satellite communications using Chinese low-earth orbit satellite networks, which will be available to the public in the second half of next year.

China's Huawei said on November 26 that it has launched a new phone - Mate 70 - that will run on an in-house operating system, setting in motion the country's shift away from US-based Google Android platform completely.

The phone promises to set China free from US high-end chip restrictions, running on a 5G chip and a made-in-China operating system.

Previous phones of the Mate series featured advanced chips manufactured by China's SMIC, showcasing its rising capabilities in semiconductor despite US export controls. Some variants of Mate 70 will use Huawei’s Kirin 9100 chipset by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), however production challenges may mean only higher end models could feature these made-in-China chipsets, Reuters reported quoting a source familiar with the development. Bloomberg News too said that Huawei could use in-house Kirin chip for, though less powerful that than Qualcomm and MediaTek's top-end offerings.

Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's consumer business group said during an event that the phone has an improved processor and runs on in-house HarmonyOS Next operating system, together boosting performance by 40% compared to previous models. The latest phone in the Mate series is the first significant commercial rollout of the HarmonyOS NEXT. Previous versions of the phone had maintained Android compatibility, however, the HarmonyOS NEXT platform - which will be available to the public this year - completely breaks away from Android.

The new phone and operating system will also help Huawei attempt to reclaim leadership in China’s high-end smartphone segment from Apple Inc, offering a mobile network ecosystem without the involvement of major US tech providers.

Huawei's latest phone claims to be the first phone to support satellite communications using Chinese low-earth orbit satellite networks, which will be available to the public in the second half of next year.

The launch comes ahead of possible export control measures by US, including blacklisting of Chinese chip companies as soon as this week, news agency Reuters recently reported. The move may restrict access for these companies to US suppliers.

Huawei was China's second largest smartphone vendor in the September quarter, with deliveries exceeding 10 million units research firm Canalys has reported.