Huawei says its in-house operating system, HarmonyOS, has crossed a milestone the company believes is critical to its long-term survival.
According to Huawei, the combined installed base of HarmonyOS 5 and HarmonyOS 6 has now passed 27 million devices. The company refers to this figure as its internal “survival line,” meaning the minimum scale needed for the platform to sustain developer interest and ecosystem growth.
HarmonyOS was first launched six years ago, after US sanctions cut Huawei off from Google’s Android services. Since then, the company has steadily pushed its devices toward its own software, accelerating the transition after being placed on the US Entity List in 2019.
Huawei says developer activity remains strong. More than 10 million developers are now registered on the platform, with over 100,000 new devices reportedly activated each day. Apps on HarmonyOS see roughly 88 million downloads and updates daily, according to the company.
The latest version, HarmonyOS 6, became available to developers in June 2025 and rolled out to consumers in China in October. One of its more notable additions is a file-sharing feature similar to Apple’s AirDrop.
Market data suggests the OS is gaining ground at home. Counterpoint Research reported that HarmonyOS accounted for 17 percent of China’s smartphone OS market in Q2 2025, slightly ahead of iOS at 16 percent for the sixth consecutive quarter. Android continues to lead with 66 percent.
The OS growth comes alongside Huawei’s broader smartphone recovery in China. Data from research firm BCI indicates Huawei briefly reclaimed the top vendor position in late November and early December 2025, helped by strong sales of its Mate 80 series.
With newer devices shipping exclusively on HarmonyOS, Huawei appears increasingly committed to building a self-contained ecosystem, positioning its platform as a serious alternative in China’s smartphone market.
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