Huawei has fought through a rough couple of months. Now the company is set on releasing its own operating system (OS), codenamed HongMeng, into the world. Just… not in the shape you’d expect. But this will be the first official introduction of the company’s new OS

According to a report published on a Chinese media site, Global Times, Huawei plans to launch devices running HongMeng OS this week at its developer conference. The only catch? It won’t be a smartphone this time around, but rather the brand’s new Honor smart TVs. But it’s not going to remain on TV screens for long.

HongWhatNow?

Later this year, we might see Huawei release a mid-range smartphone priced around 2,000 Yuan (R4,200). This is likely because the Chinese company wants to test public reaction on a lower-end device before pushing its OS to flagships. It’s unlikely the OS will be as desirable as Google’s Android — but we’ll get our first proper look at the OS at Huawei’s conference in Dongguan, China.

Huawei accelerated its efforts to build its own OS after being placed on the US Entity list, effectively banning the company from trading with US companies like Google-owned Android. Pres. Trump retracted his decisions to sanction Huawei at the recent G20 Summit in Japan. So everyone’s kinda kinda uncertain where we stand with Huawei and Android. There’s a 19 August deadline looming for the company, which may or may not impact its smartphone division.

Regardless, it looks like Huawei plans to roll out HongMeng on internet of things (IoT) devices like smart TVs, routers, servers and appliances. There’s no indication that Huawei will push HongMeng OS out to all its products, leaving us with a third operating system in the mobile market. But, given recent events, the company will be better off with a backup OS if the red, white and blue strikes the fan again.

Source: Global Times via The Verge