Huawei’s HarmonyOS, particularly HarmonyOS Next, is reshaping how overseas developers engage with its ecosystem—not through persuasion, but by making non-participation economically unviable in select regions. Rather than seeking Western approval, Huawei is focused on establishing a parallel ecosystem in which Chinese and regional apps become the default, especially across the Global South. Developers are compelled to adapt once user bases and distribution channels appear, while those who resist are effectively replaced, with the system even encouraging viable alternatives to fill the gaps.
HarmonyOS Next: A Strategic Departure from Android
HarmonyOS Next represents a deliberate, strategic break from Android, not a technical misstep. Unlike previous versions, it no longer supports Android APKs and removes all Android compatibility layers. Instead, it relies entirely on its own runtime, software development kits, and programming stack—including ArkTS and Huawei’s DevEco environment. This design forces developers to approach HarmonyOS as a first-class platform rather than a simple port of Android, signaling that half-hearted support will not suffice.
The elimination of APK support is often misunderstood as self-sabotage, but it is in fact a carefully engineered moat. By severing ties with Google’s ecosystem, Huawei prevents HarmonyOS from becoming merely “Android without GMS” and raises the cost of superficial participation. What some observers call an “open conspiracy” is a conscious strategy: developers must commit fully or be replaced, ensuring that HarmonyOS grows as a distinct and self-sustaining ecosystem rather than relying on borrowed Android infrastructure.
HarmonyOS Focuses Beyond the West: Strategic Growth in Emerging Markets
Huawei’s HarmonyOS is not aiming to compete directly in the United States or Western Europe, where Apple and Google dominate entrenched ecosystems. Instead, the platform is strategically focused on emerging and non-Western markets, where mobile adoption is still expanding and opportunities for ecosystem influence remain open. By avoiding head-to-head competition in regions dominated by premium brands, Huawei positions HarmonyOS to grow in areas with fewer barriers to entry.
The primary targets for HarmonyOS include Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These regions share key characteristics that make them favorable for Huawei’s expansion: large and growing populations of mobile internet users, high price sensitivity, limited reliance on Google services, and governments more receptive to Chinese infrastructure investments. Such conditions create a fertile environment for a distinct mobile ecosystem to take root.
In these markets, HarmonyOS competes mainly with mid- and low-end Android devices from Samsung and local OEMs, rather than Apple’s premium segment. By tailoring its strategy to the unique economic, technological, and political contexts of these regions, Huawei can cultivate user bases and developer engagement without needing to overcome the entrenched dominance of Western platforms. This approach underscores that HarmonyOS’s global ambition is not universal conquest, but strategic presence where adoption is feasible and influence can grow sustainably.
How Huawei actually gets overseas developers to adapt
Huawei’s approach does not depend on convincing users or developers through ideology. Instead, it leverages market forces, developer tools, targeted incentives, and alternative options to shape adoption.
Method 1: The Power of Hardware Reach and Distribution Control
Huawei leverages its control over both hardware volume and distribution to shape the HarmonyOS ecosystem. By manufacturing and shipping large numbers of devices, managing the AppGallery app store, and controlling system-level exposure and default settings, Huawei creates a self-reinforcing environment where developers naturally follow the user base. In this model, political considerations take a back seat to market realities: software success is determined by access to users, not ideology.
This approach reflects a broader historical pattern in mobile platforms. Android’s dominance replaced Symbian as developers chased its growing user base, iOS forced the shift to mobile-first development, and Windows Phone failed largely because it could not attract enough users to create leverage. If HarmonyOS devices reach tens or hundreds of millions of users, the principle remains simple: developers will align with where the users are, driven by market reach rather than persuasion.
Method 2: Reducing Porting Barriers Without Removing Them
Huawei’s strategy for HarmonyOS focuses on lowering the cost of adapting apps, rather than eliminating it entirely. Through tools like DevEco Studio, ArkTS and its UI frameworks, migration toolkits, and cross-platform abstractions, the company enables developers to bring their apps to HarmonyOS with manageable effort. For many content, commerce, and utility apps, the process requires work but not a complete rewrite—similar to the effort involved in adapting between iOS and Android.
This approach intentionally filters the developer ecosystem. Serious, committed developers are incentivized to invest in adaptation, while marginal or half-hearted apps naturally drop out. By setting a moderate barrier to entry, Huawei ensures that HarmonyOS maintains a higher-quality, sustainable app ecosystem while still attracting a broad enough base to support user growth and engagement.
Method 3: Leveraging Financial, Traffic, and Policy Incentives
Huawei employs a range of financial, traffic, and policy incentives to attract and retain developers within the HarmonyOS ecosystem. These measures include AppGallery traffic boosts, reduced revenue cuts, marketing subsidies, and access to local government or enterprise procurement channels. Developers may also receive preferential treatment across Huawei’s broader ecosystem, including smart devices like cars, TVs, and wearables.
For mid-size overseas developers, these incentives can be far more compelling than attempting to gain visibility in the already saturated app stores of Apple or Google. By combining economic benefits, increased exposure, and strategic partnerships, Huawei creates an ecosystem in which developer engagement is motivated less by persuasion and more by tangible, practical advantages. This approach strengthens HarmonyOS’s ability to cultivate a committed developer base while accelerating the growth of its app ecosystem.
Method 4: Driving Adoption Through Competitive Substitution
At the core of Huawei’s strategy is competitive pressure through substitution. When a popular app is absent from HarmonyOS, an alternative often emerges—frequently faster, cheaper, and better adapted to local markets. For example, if WhatsApp is unavailable, regional or Chinese instant messaging apps expand; if Google Maps is missing, local navigation services become the default; and in the absence of YouTube, short-video ecosystems fill the gap. Similarly, Huawei Mobile Services and its partners replace Google’s core functions where needed.
Once users develop habits around these substitutes, late entry by the original app becomes extremely costly, and in many cases, re-entry may be impossible. This mechanism is not unique to China; it reflects broader patterns in technology adoption. WeChat replaced MSN and ICQ domestically, Android displaced Symbian, and TikTok overtook Vine. By allowing substitution to occur naturally, Huawei ensures that HarmonyOS can cultivate a self-sustaining ecosystem without relying on coercion or persuasion.
Why Mainland Chinese Developers Face the Greatest Pressure
For app developers within mainland China, HarmonyOS Next is framed less as a speculative opportunity and more as a survival imperative. When one app adapts early while another delays, Huawei’s ecosystem advantages—traffic, exposure, and integration—favor the first mover, while delayed apps lose users proportionally as HarmonyOS adoption grows. This dynamic creates first-mover advantages, winner-takes-all outcomes, and intense peer pressure within the domestic app market.
The stakes are clear: joining HarmonyOS carries risk, but not joining can pose an existential threat. Even if the platform were to fail globally, the cost of early adaptation is minor compared to the potential loss of market relevance if it succeeds. This environment compels Chinese developers to treat HarmonyOS adoption as a strategic necessity, reinforcing the platform’s growth and shaping the domestic technology landscape.
HarmonyOS: Beyond the Smartphone
Huawei positions HarmonyOS as more than a mobile operating system, framing it as an IoT-native platform that unifies a wide range of devices. The system spans phones, tablets, TVs, cars, wearables, and industrial or enterprise hardware, creating a single, interconnected ecosystem. This strategy allows developers to build apps that integrate deeply across multiple device categories, gaining advantages unavailable on Android or iOS.
Even partial success—such as adoption in cars, smart homes, or industrial applications—can establish significant developer lock-in, making the platform relevant without requiring total dominance in the smartphone market. Phones are treated as just one node within a broader, cross-device ecosystem, enabling Huawei to leverage HarmonyOS’s reach across a diverse set of devices while strengthening the platform’s long-term strategic value.
Preparing for the Absence of Major Overseas Apps
Huawei has anticipated the possibility that major overseas apps may never adapt to HarmonyOS. The company’s implicit strategy is clear: it does not require every global app to succeed; it only needs a sufficient number of apps to serve its target markets. In many regions, user priorities focus on messaging, video, payments, and commerce rather than Gmail, Google Docs, or Twitter/X.
To address potential gaps, Huawei relies on a tiered fallback approach: Chinese apps first, regional apps second, and Western apps as optional and replaceable. Even if Western developers remain absent, HarmonyOS can evolve into a parallel digital ecosystem—self-sustaining, locally relevant, and capable of meeting user needs without universal adoption. This strategy reinforces the platform’s resilience and long-term viability across diverse markets.
A Reality Check on HarmonyOS Ambitions
Despite the strategic case for HarmonyOS, the platform faces several significant risks that temper overconfident projections. Global network effects remain a major barrier, as messaging and social platforms are notoriously difficult to replace on a worldwide scale. Developers may experience fatigue as they are asked to support yet another platform, reinforcing Apple and Google’s continued dominance in app priorities. Geopolitical constraints also pose challenges, with some governments likely to block Huawei products regardless of local economic incentives.
User expectations present an additional hurdle: low device prices do not automatically translate into tolerance for missing or incomplete apps. While regional success in emerging markets remains plausible, achieving global dominance is far less certain. HarmonyOS may thrive in targeted contexts, but it must contend with structural, political, and behavioral realities that limit its universal reach.
Summary & Implications
Huawei does not rely on persuading overseas developers to adopt HarmonyOS Next. Instead, it deploys hardware in targeted markets, reduces the effort required to port apps, leverages distribution and financial incentives, and permits alternative apps to permanently fill gaps left by non-participating developers—effectively forcing them to either engage with the ecosystem or risk becoming irrelevant over time.