Huawei plans pilot launches of HarmonyOS in selected overseas markets after Chinese authorities said the software has become the world’s third-largest mobile operating system.
Liu Yulin, director-general of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Information and Communications Development Department, announced the ranking at a State Council Information Office press conference on Aug. 26.
The ministry also said cumulative devices running OpenHarmony, the open-source base for HarmonyOS, have exceeded 1.35 billion across phones, cars, home appliances and industrial systems.
Counterpoint Research data for the second quarter of 2026 showed HarmonyOS held 5% of global smartphone shipments, behind Android at 75% and Apple’s iOS at 20%.
In China, Counterpoint said HarmonyOS took 24% of smartphone sales in the quarter, ahead of iOS at 18%, while Android held 58%.
Huawei rotating chairman Xu Zhijun set out the company’s international plans at the HarmonyOS Ecosystem Conference 2026 in Shenzhen on Aug. 28 and 29. He said Huawei would start with pilots in selected overseas markets before deciding on a broader consumer rollout.
“Based on validating the model and accumulating best practices, we aim to achieve the global-scale development of the HarmonyOS ecosystem and provide the world with a second option,” Xu said.
Huawei said more than 100,000 native HarmonyOS applications have been developed, and total apps accessible on HarmonyOS smartphones now exceed 400,000.
Huawei also said more than 80 million devices were running HarmonyOS 6 as of Aug. 20, leaving it short of its year-end target of 100 million devices.
Huawei still faces limits outside China. Its flagship devices sold overseas continue to ship with EMUI, which is based on Android’s open-source code, rather than HarmonyOS 6.
HarmonyOS NEXT, later renamed HarmonyOS 5 and then HarmonyOS 6, dropped Android compatibility and requires apps to be rebuilt natively. Xu said the two main challenges are persuading developers to support a third platform and building new AI capabilities.
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