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Major Chinese internet companies are scrambling to recruit app developers for projects based on Huawei Technologies' HarmonyOS mobile platform, as the US-blacklisted telecommunications equipment maker expands the adoption of its self-developed operating system and manoeuvres to sever ties with Google's Android ecosystem.
E-commerce giant JD.com, video gaming powerhouse NetEase and food delivery market leader Meituan are among a number of Big Tech companies that have started hiring HarmonyOS app developers, according to online career sites Maimai and liepin.com.
Beijing-based Meituan, for example, is actively recruiting for a number of such roles, including HarmonyOS infrastructure engineer. The on-demand local services provider is offering a monthly salary of between 40,000 yuan and 60,000 yuan (US$5,492 and US$8,238) for app developers "with HarmonyOS experience" and those who can "work on research and development projects based on incumbent [technological] infrastructure".
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JD.com and NetEase, meanwhile, are looking for developers purportedly for specific apps designed for Huawei's smartphones, according to the two job sites.
HarmonyOS, the self-developed mobile operating system of Huawei Technologies, was designed to run on multiple devices to rival Google's widely adopted Android platform. Photo: Shutterstock alt=HarmonyOS, the self-developed mobile operating system of Huawei Technologies, was designed to run on multiple devices to rival Google's widely adopted Android platform. Photo: Shutterstock>
The recruitment drive of these major internet firms bolsters Huawei's strategy to widen the adoption of HarmonyOS as an alternative ecosystem on the mainland, as set out by company founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei this year to counter the impact of US sanctions.
More than 700 million devices currently run on HarmonyOS, with more than 2.2 million third-party developers creating apps for the platform, according to Richard Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group and chairman of its Intelligent Automotive Solution business unit, at the company's annual developer conference in August.
Yu said the next iteration of Huawei's mobile platform, HarmonyOS Next, will involve removing support for Android-based apps on all the company's devices installed with that new operating system. The company is expected to launch a developer preview version of its Next system in the first quarter of next year.