China's Huawei unveils 'milestone' smartphone with homegrown OS

Beijing: Chinese tech giant Huawei on Tuesday unveiled its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a key test in the firm s...

Beijing: Chinese tech giant Huawei on Tuesday unveiled its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a key test in the firm's fight to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.

Apple's iOS and Google's Android are currently used in the vast majority of mobile phones, but Huawei is looking to change that with its newest Mate 70 devices, which run on the company's own HarmonyOS Next.

The launch caps a major turnaround in the fortunes of Huawei, which saw its wings clipped by gruelling US sanctions in recent years but has since bounced back with soaring sales.

"Today, the long-awaited Mate 70, the most powerful one ever, is here," Richard Yu, executive director of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, told a raucous launch event Tuesday afternoon at the firm's Shenzhen headquarters.

The risks are high -- unlike a previous iteration, based on Android's open-source code, HarmonyOS Next requires a complete rewiring of all apps on the smartphones it powers.