Huawei to dump Windows for PCs in favor of its own HarmonyOS

Asia In Brief Huawei’s current PCs are the last it will make that run Windows, and future machines will run its own HarmonyOS instead, according to the chair of the Chinese giant’s consumer business group, Yu Chengdong.

Yu’s remarks were made in a Friday interview, in which he also talked up HarmonyOS Next – the version of the OS that is all Huawei’s work, has an entirely new kernel apparently built without Linux, and won’t run Android apps. Huawei promotes the OS as offering superior performance and security.

If Huawei is indeed ditching Windows it won’t be a massive blow to Microsoft. Analyst firm Canalys believes the Chinese box builder holds around ten percent of the 40-million-units-a-year Middle Kingdom PC market.

Lenovo dominates the country’s PC market with 38 percent share, ahead of HP’s ten percent. It’s in neither of their interests to adopt Huawei’s OS – but that could change if patriotic sentiment, or Beijing’s increasing preference for home-grown tech, reshapes the local environment.

For now, however, HarmonyOS reportedly lacks support from significant software vendors – especially game developers.

Indian government’s fact-checking plan nixed

The Bombay High Court last week ruled that India’s planned government-run fact-checking unit – and the content takedown powers it would possess – is unconstitutional.

The government pitched the unit as a means of curbing the spread of disinformation, but faced strong opposition on grounds the measure could easily enable censorship.

Singapore banks mandate facial authentication

Singapore’s Monetary Authority and Association of Banks last week announced they will make facial authentication compulsory in “higher risk scenarios” to reduce the likelihood of scams.

The scheme will rely on the government-run Singpass identity service.

Fukushima datacenter boom

Fukushima Prefecture, the Japanese region made infamous by the 2011 accident, is reportedly experiencing a datacenter construction boom. Japanese outlet Nikkei on Sunday reported that three groups plan datacenters in the prefecture – some of which plan to house Nvidia kit for AI workloads.

An abundance of renewable energy in the Prefecture apparently excites investors, as it will allow local datacenters to undercut rivals on price.

In other Fukushima news, China has apparently agreed to end its ban on Japanese seafood after being satisfied that wastewater discharges pose no risk to health.

• Huawei debuts triple-folding Mate XT smartphone
• US tightens export controls on quantum kit and chips for China, Iran, Russia
• Lenovo brings virtualization, cloud stack to Chinese chip designer Loongson’s CPU arch
• Chinese schools testing 10,000 locally made RISC-V-ish PCs

Mongolia chuffed by digital transformation progress

The government of Mongolia today sent The Register a press release hailing its achievement of being ranked 46th on the 2024 United Nations E-Government Survey.

We’ve never covered Mongolia’s tech scene before, so news that Mongolia has climbed 28 places up the UN index since 2022 and 46 places since 2020 seemed like as good a place as any to start.

“The achievements we have made over recent years are extraordinary. Around 75 percent of Mongolian adults now find it easier to access government services through the E-Mongolia platform, and we have significantly expanded access to high-speed internet via both fibre optic and low orbit connectivity and provided new opportunities for Mongolians to learn digital skills,” declared chief cabinet secretary Uchral Nyam-Osor, who who served as the country’s minister of digital development and communications between 2022 and 2024.

Denmark, Estonia, Singapore, South Korea, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Australia, Finland and The Netherlands filled the top ten places on the UN’s list. The US was ranked 19th.

APAC Dealbook

Deals, alliances, and tie-ups we spotted around the region last week include:

• India’s Tata Group and US semiconductor outfit Analog Devices signed a memorandum of understanding “to explore potential cooperative manufacturing opportunities.” Analog Devices focuses on data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology. The two businesses pitched the signing as “a significant step in establishing a robust electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India both for domestic and global consumption.”
• European satellite operator Eutelsat – which controls 36 comms sats – chose Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its H3 rocket for “multiple launches from 2027.” It’s unclear what will be launched, or how many missions will be required.
• Japan’s Ricoh and South Korea’s LG also signed a memorandum of understanding, this one aimed at seeing LG’s displays used in Ricoh’s Workplace Experience practise. “Integration of high-quality devices such as signages and displays into Ricoh solutions will enrich Ricoh’s product and service portfolio and achieve a stable global supply. In addition, the two will jointly drive associated sales and marketing efforts and explore new business opportunities as the partnership unfolds,” according to a joint statement.
• Lenovo and SentinelOne did a deal that will see the latter company’s Singularity security Platform endpoint security product, and Purple AI generative code sold with millions of PCs.

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