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Huawei launches laptops with HarmonyOS as U.S. restricts

tech

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New operating system for computers takes on Microsoft ( MSFT ),

Apple ( AAPL )

By Che Pan and Brenda Goh

BEIJING, May 19 (Reuters) - Huawei launched two new

laptop models on Monday, the first sold with its own Harmony

operating system, in a bid to take on well-established Western

Big Tech rivals even as the United States seeks to limit its

access to crucial chips.

Despite its emergence as the world's leading producer of

tech hardware, China's development of computer operating systems

has lagged behind Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL ), whose

Windows and macOS have cornered the global market for decades.

The new MateBook Fold and MateBook Pro both run on HarmonyOS

5, the latest version of an operating system Huawei Technologies

began developing in 2015 and introduced five years later on its

Mate series smartphones.

It began developing the laptop prototypes in 2021.

"The Harmony laptop gives the world a new choice," Yu

Chengdong, head of Huawei's consumer business group, said during

a livestreamed launch event. "We kept on doing the hard things

but the right things."

The base model of the MateBook Fold, which does not have a

physical keyboard and offers an 18-inch OLED double screen when

fully extended, will sell for 23,999 yuan ($3,328).

The MateBook Pro model, which uses a conventional laptop

keyboard, is priced from 7,999 yuan.

Washington began restricting Huawei's access to U.S.

technology in 2019 over national security concerns, pushing the

company to build its own capacity to develop and produce chips

and operating systems.

Huawei said the HarmonyOS for computers currently offers

over 150 applications, including WPS Office from Kingsoft ( KSFTF )

- an alternative to Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Office - and photo

editing app Meitu Xiu Xiu.

By the end of 2024, over 7.2 million individual developers

were developing apps for HarmonyOS, which was installed on over

a billion devices, including smartphones and TVs, according to

Huawei's latest annual report.

Huawei did not disclose which processing chip it had used to

power the newly-launched laptops. But it said the computers'

relatively high prices were the result of the cost of new

manufacturing technology for the chipset.

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment

on the chip.

Reuters reported last year that the U.S. revoked licences

that had allowed companies including Intel ( INTC ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM )

to ship chips used for laptops and handsets to Huawei.

Republican lawmakers had been angered by the launch of

Huawei's first AI-enabled laptop, which was powered by an Intel ( INTC )

processor.