Chinese tech giant Huawei on Monday launched two new laptops—the MateBook Fold and MateBook Pro—marking its first foray into the personal computer market with devices powered by its proprietary Harmony operating system. The move signals Huawei’s ambition to challenge the dominance of Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s macOS in a market long ruled by American Big Tech, even as U.S. sanctions continue to limit the company’s access to critical semiconductor technology.
The new models are powered by HarmonyOS 5, an operating system Huawei began developing in 2015 and rolled out to its Mate smartphones five years later. While China has become the world’s leading hardware producer, its software capabilities, particularly in OS development, have lagged behind global standards. Huawei hopes to close that gap with the release of these Harmony-based computers, which have been in development since 2021.
During a livestreamed launch event, Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei’s consumer business group, described the laptops as a bold step forward. “The Harmony laptop gives the world a new choice,” he said, adding that Huawei remains committed to “doing the hard things but the right things.” The MateBook Fold, which features an 18-inch OLED double screen and lacks a physical keyboard, is priced at 23,999 yuan ($3,328), while the more traditional MateBook Pro starts at 7,999 yuan.
The launch underscores Huawei’s broader strategy to reduce dependence on U.S. technologies. Since 2019, Washington has imposed strict curbs on the company’s access to American tech over national security concerns, prompting Huawei to accelerate the development of its own chips and software platforms. Though the chip model used in the new laptops remains undisclosed, Huawei noted that high production costs linked to advanced manufacturing technology were a key factor behind the laptops’ premium pricing.
Huawei also revealed that HarmonyOS now supports more than 150 computer applications, including WPS Office—a Chinese alternative to Microsoft Office—and photo editing tool Meitu Xiu Xiu. By the end of 2024, over 7.2 million developers were actively creating apps for HarmonyOS, which had been installed on over one billion devices globally, ranging from smartphones to televisions.