Huawei launches first HarmonyOS laptop – a true turning point?

[thedighubs]

good day dear Community,

Huawei will no longer be able to get Windows – now the first HarmonyOS laptop has been introduced.

Ongoing US sanctions continue to put Huawei under massive pressure, especially in the PC segment. Since Windows licenses will no longer be reliably available in the future, Huawei is now taking a new direction:

What do you think - does Huawei succeed here - do the can win the battle!?


btw: just wanted to share a clip that i saw yesterday..

HarmonyOS PC is Here

Stats: 12.449 views :: 240 likes :: 70 comments

 

[lxskllr]

Might do ok in China. I have no idea what their computing ecosystem's like. Has basically no chance outside of China's sphere of influence. Dollar store Apple with proprietary crap. A bit in English if anyone's interested...

HarmonyOS PC Explained: How Huawei’s Desktop OS Differs from Windows - Gizmochina

What is HarmonyOS PC and how is it different from Windows? Huawei's new desktop OS offers deeper AI, better device synergy, and stronger privacy controls.

www.gizmochina.com

 

[kage69]

A CCP endorsed product with "stronger privacy controls."



"Does Huawei succeed here - do the can win the battle!?"

Huawei can't compete in software and China can't compete in hardware, I'm going with No. The only battles China will win here are in places like Mozambique or Sri Lanka. Redmond isn't worried.

 

[thedighubs]

hi thee - good evening dear kage69 - many thanks for the reply. Great to hear from you-

Huawei can't compete in software and China can't compete in hardware, I'm going with No. The only battles China will win here are in places like Mozambique or Sri Lanka. Redmond isn't worried.

agreed - fully agreed. .

food for thought.

China will win here are in places like Mozambique or Sri Lanka. Redmond isn't worried.

Well i am curious - what happens. Lets see what the future brings

greetings

 

[Red Squirrel]

I guess it's not any worse than something like a Chrome book, Macbook or Windows 10/11 machine which is also full of spying. Either way only way I would buy something like this is if I can wipe the OS and put Linux on it.

 

[KMFJD]

A CCP endorsed product with "stronger privacy controls."



"Does Huawei succeed here - do the can win the battle!?"

Huawei can't compete in software and China can't compete in hardware, I'm going with No. The only battles China will win here are in places like Mozambique or Sri Lanka. Redmond isn't worried.

the thinking that China can't compete is becoming more laughable every year, but do keep up the chauvinism

 

[kage69]

the thinking that China can't compete is becoming more laughable every year, but do keep up the chauvinism

I want to believe you can do better than that. No, it's Chinese quality that's laughable, and competition requires investments. Go take a look at the current level of foreign investment in China. Still laughing? They're not. They focused on the low end for decades assuming the high end would always be available. Now they're about 8-10 years behind outfits like Intel, who is still years behind TSMC.

My guesstimate has nothing to do with chauvinism, everything to do with their inability to design and manufacture middle and higher end CPUs, with an ancillary role played by Beijing's love of espionage and IP theft. We're not in 2013 anymore Toto.

 

[KMFJD]

Chinese quality is laughable? there's that chauvinism showing again, i used to hear the same about Japanese and Korean manufacturing.

 

[manly]

I want to believe you can do better than that. No, it's Chinese quality that's laughable, and competition requires investments. Go take a look at the current level of foreign investment in China. Still laughing? They're not. They focused on the low end for decades assuming the high end would always be available. Now they're about 8-10 years behind outfits like Intel, who is still years behind TSMC.

My guesstimate has nothing to do with chauvinism, everything to do with their inability to design and manufacture middle and higher end CPUs, with an ancillary role played by Beijing's love of espionage and IP theft. We're not in 2013 anymore Toto.

TSMC is a foundry, and while they are the industry leader, they don't actually design any CPUs. There aren't that many countries with leadership in designing CPUs. But your argument is that "Chinese quality" sucks because of one single product line?

If China sucks so bad at innovation, why did we have to ban them from buying ASML's most advanced lithography systems? Surely if their BEVs suck so badly, we don't need to tariff the hell out of them, right? Why did we ban Huawei from western CPUs if they can't compete in software anyway?

China is obviously still playing catch-up, but because we've taken an antagonistic posture against them (and arguably rightfully so), the CCP has decided they must become self-sufficient in key technology sectors going forward. And sadly, plenty of Nvidia's best GPUs were smuggled into China via intermediaries to fuel the AI boom.

China may never achieve parity with the U.S. as an economic superpower but give them enough time and we'll see how far they can go. The irony of "we're not in 2013 anymore" is that China has developed rapidly since the turn of the century. We're concerned about competition and fair play for valid reasons.

The other irony is that a lot of forum members here just don't want to "upgrade" to Windows 11. While Windows client hegemony isn't really at risk, this certainly cracks the door open for further gains for macOS* and even Linux. I have no opinion on HarmonyOS, but considering there are hundreds of millions of computers in China alone, that could be a massive install base even if no other global market was interested.

* In select markets such as the U.S., macOS has done rather well after Tim Cook became CEO.

 

[manly]

Meanwhile, Chinese quality is so bad that the U.S. threatens everyone not to buy Huawei's Ascend AI clusters; while Jensen Huang himself recently called Huawei a "formidable" competitor.

US warns companies around the world to stay away from Huawei chips

US aims to toughen export controls on tech used by China to make AI processors.

arstechnica.com

 

[Kaido]

US warns companies around the world to stay away from Huawei chips

US aims to toughen export controls on tech used by China to make AI processors.

arstechnica.com

But it's okay

because we have things covered

here in America!

 

[kage69]

Chinese quality is laughable? there's that chauvinism showing again, i used to hear the same about Japanese and Korean manufacturing.

A large chunk of it is, yeah. No, you're just being lazy again, also maybe taking it personally, which you shouldn't. China has serious quality control problems across multiple industries; construction, food production, consumer goods, sorry but that's the truth. So much is fake in China it's ridiculous. I don't care what you heard about Japan or Korea, it in no way invalidates a very real, observable problem in China. Neither of those two have anything to worry about when it comes to quality control or oversight. Are the Russians being "chauvanistic" when they complain of their Chinese allies giving them crap? Now I'm laughing. Japan is the quality king of Asia, China is a crap shoot at best. Good quality is possible, but it's usually an exception rather than a rule.

Google tofu dreg construction and get back to us, preferably with examples of Japanese or Korean analogs to prove your point. Bonus points: provide an example of Japan or Korea having the kind of counterfeit food problem China does.

 

[kage69]

TSMC is a foundry, and while they are the industry leader, they don't actually design any CPUs. There aren't that many countries with leadership in designing CPUs. But your argument is that "Chinese quality" sucks because of one single product line?

No, I think Chinese quality sucks across a number of industries. Apologies if I was unclear, I was referring to the printing of chips there. China has been able to make it past the 10nm mark, good for them, and while they seem like they might be able to do 7nm, I don't think they can mass produce them (yet).

If China sucks so bad at innovation, why did we have to ban them from buying ASML's most advanced lithography systems? Surely if their BEVs suck so badly, we don't need to tariff the hell out of them, right? Why did we ban Huawei from western CPUs if they can't compete in software anyway?

Several reasons I'd say. Market protection for one, China has shown a willingness to use your stuff to destroy your market for it, see Brazil. Now add in the military aspect of it, the stealing, spying and territorial belligerence China has turned into a national hobby since 2013. China, like Russia, wants to completely up end the world order, militarily and economically. I guess you'll just have to excuse people in the way of CCP ambitions for not wanting to supply or fund them.

China is obviously still playing catch-up, but because we've taken an antagonistic posture against them (and arguably rightfully so), the CCP has decided they must become self-sufficient in key technology sectors going forward. And sadly, plenty of Nvidia's best GPUs were smuggled into China via intermediaries to fuel the AI boom.

China may never achieve parity with the U.S. as an economic superpower but give them enough time and we'll see how far they can go. The irony of "we're not in 2013 anymore" is that China has developed rapidly since the turn of the century. We're concerned about competition and fair play for valid reasons.

The other irony is that a lot of forum members here just don't want to "upgrade" to Windows 11. While Windows client hegemony isn't really at risk, this certainly cracks the door open for further gains for macOS* and even Linux. I have no opinion on HarmonyOS, but considering there are hundreds of millions of computers in China alone, that could be a massive install base even if no other global market was interested.

* In select markets such as the U.S., macOS has done rather well after Tim Cook became CEO.

I'm not concerned about China acheiving parity with the US here. They'll need to survive their Taiwan attempt and the death of Xi first. I don't think they will personally.

You are correct about the local market. One thing I'll add in parting though, MS and Apple guys aren't personally subject to the intelligence and security needs of any government. That is not the case with Chinese nationals, from factory workers all the way up to the company owner. Consumers and governments alike can't ignore that.