Every autumn, migratory birds embark on a journey of migration, heading to new habitats thousands of miles away.
Today, the advent of AI, the awakening of the IoT world, and the accelerated evolution of technology—multiple forces converging—are propelling an increasing number of silent, dumb terminals onto their journey of intelligent migration.
For instance, a refrigerator now knows how to save power. Midea has brought edge AI capabilities into the refrigerator's main control system, enabling more complex energy-saving algorithms to run locally on the device in real time.
A two-wheeled electric vehicle is also beginning to have its own voice. The Hellobike Navigator N201 has replaced the traditional black-and-white segment LCD with a high-definition smart screen dashboard. According to the person in charge, for riding, navigation, returning the bike... whatever the user wants to display on this screen can be shown.
Furthermore, gas meters are starting to detect dangers on their own. The wireless remote transmission diaphragm gas meter launched by Goldcard Smart Group, based on OpenHarmony and edge computing capabilities, can independently identify abnormal situations such as gas leaks and forgotten shut-offs.
The "four-no" dumb terminals, which once lacked intelligence, connectivity, perception, and display, are all now turning to AI as their direction. However, the migration process cannot rely solely on the bird's own wings; it must also leverage monsoons and air currents to carry itself forward.
Some dumb devices have only 128KB of memory, yet they can already run the OpenHarmony system stably. Thus, lightweight and small devices now have the possibility to step towards intelligence.
From the intelligent migration of ten billion terminals, we see the broader industrial value of OpenHarmony. It is a noble spirit and a refreshing wind sweeping across a thousand miles in the era of light intelligence.
Data from IoT Analytics shows that global active IoT connections will reach approximately 21.1 billion in 2025, and are projected to hit 39 billion by 2030.
The vast majority of IoT devices at the scale of tens of billions are "four-no" dumb terminals. Once they all transform into smart terminals with connectivity, computing power, perception, and interaction, AI will have ubiquitous entry points, spreading into every corner of our lives.
These "four-no" devices have long been excluded from the wave of intelligence. It is not that they are unwilling or reluctant to transform; the fundamental reason lies in the lack of support from new technologies.
Previous intelligent solutions mainly targeted information devices such as smartphones and PCs, which come with stronger computing power and more complete systems, making it easier to carry complex intelligent solutions. However, applying intelligent solutions designed for information devices to dumb terminals is like using an anti-aircraft gun to shoot a mosquito.
For example, traditional operating systems born for PCs and smartphones are too bulky for gas meters, two-wheelers, and car rearview mirrors. They are unaffordable in cost and cannot solve the pain points of IoT device fragmentation and the difficulty of interconnection.
It was not until the emergence of OpenHarmony, with its two technical features, that the intelligent dream of tens of billions of devices was supported in the era of light intelligence.
First, the underlying OS capabilities for the era of Intelligent Connectivity of Everything. For instance, the distributed soft bus breaks down hardware barriers between devices, allowing IoT terminals that originally spoke different languages to speak the same language through the OS foundation, achieving interconnection. OpenHarmony supports LEGO-like flexible deployment, where the system scales flexibly according to device capabilities, and features native AI capabilities, providing a capability foundation for building "light and intelligent" terminals. Meanwhile, OpenHarmony continuously tackles miniaturization, achieving availability across all scenarios, and can even run on devices with 128K or even smaller memory. Coupled with the hard bus of NearLink wireless connectivity, they jointly form an integrated software and hardware foundation for light intelligence.
This innovation in capabilities provides the first layer of confidence for the intelligent migration of ten billion terminals.
But for migratory birds traveling far, the wind must not stop. The long-term availability and resilience of technology are the second feature of the OpenHarmony and NearLink foundation.
As AI moves from a few information devices to massive IoT terminals, foundational software and hardware such as operating systems and chips will become the basis for the long-term operation of the entire industry. If the underlying technologies are subject to the control of others, system supply, technological evolution, and even ecological development could be affected by external factors. In that case, the more devices and the larger the industry, the higher the risk.
The other layer of value of OpenHarmony for light intelligence lies in the fact that no one can lock the wind away. The self-developed root technologies of OpenHarmony ensure a reliable foundation. At the same time, expanding the ecosystem through open source and openness ensures that the capability supply required by manufacturers is abundant, diverse, and sustainable, fearless of the blockade of iron curtains and high mountains.
Powerful technology and a reliable ecosystem represent a certainty that OpenHarmony brings to the industry's light intelligence upgrade—a noble spirit that gives ten billion dumb terminals the courage to set out.
Whether it is Fengbo (the Earl of Wind) in "Chu Ci" or Aeolus in Greek mythology, the image of the wind god is very similar: opening his bag to blow the wind into the human world. Allowing a button battery and a coin-sized module to carry a native AI foundation, OpenHarmony has also opened its bag to the industry.
It primarily outputs three capabilities: a lighter system, lower costs, and a lower development threshold.
First is the miniaturization and lightweighting of OpenHarmony. Electricity meters, gas meters, and water meters are the tough nuts to crack for AIoT operating systems. They require simultaneous support for short-range, cellular, low-power, and interconnection, while also reserving storage space. Calculated accordingly, the OS needs to be compressed to within 64K; for extreme scenarios like gas meters, it must challenge 32K, which is the size of a low-resolution photo, yet it needs to accommodate a complete operating system.
As a mature embedded OS, OpenHarmony gives tens of billions of products the true soul of an operating system, bringing them to life. A button battery and a coin-sized module can both carry OpenHarmony, enabling light intelligence to spread everywhere.
Next is the continuous reduction in costs.
The costs of core hardware categories such as connectivity, computing power, perception, and display have been continuously dropping, significantly lowering the access threshold and transformation costs for light intelligence.
Currently, upstream manufacturers represented by HiSilicon have reduced hardware costs to a level suitable for large-scale deployment, attracting many small home appliance manufacturers to embrace OpenHarmony. It is estimated that by 2030, HiSilicon's chips and solutions will bring an OpenHarmony ecosystem of over 1 billion devices annually.
This means that capabilities once exclusive to smartphones and PCs now have the opportunity to enter every terminal, laying a crucial physical foundation for intelligent upgrades.
The open and friendly OpenHarmony and NearLink ecosystem further lowers the development threshold, accelerating the entry of more hardware developers and terminal manufacturers into light intelligence.
All terminal devices based on the OpenHarmony OS can share the northbound application ecosystem while achieving southbound interconnection. For example, HiSilicon has prepared case libraries, development boards, SDKs, tools with AI coding capabilities, development documents, digital FAEs, and technical communities for developers, enabling rapid creation once resources are obtained. In the consumer electronics field, star development boards based on HiSilicon chips, such as vision and connectivity chips, are facilitating the innovation of new light intelligence products. In addition to the original smartwatch and wearable industry, categories such as two-wheelers, AI toys, AI desk lamps, drones, and smart speakers are gradually being integrated into the OpenHarmony ecosystem.
The wind is the breath of heaven and earth, flowing freely and extensively, bestowed upon all without distinction of noble or base, high or low. The inclusive wind of OpenHarmony is opening its arms to all kinds of terminal devices; no matter how small the device, it can be endowed with intelligence.
Every migratory bird has its own endowment and route, needing to leverage different ocean currents and monsoons to complete its migration. The intelligence of ten billion terminals is the same. OpenHarmony provides a more inclusive and diverse access approach. Devices of different sizes and types can have different intelligent solutions, truly spreading their wings in the intelligent era.
Among them, basic devices such as home appliances, elderly care equipment, and the "three meters" (electricity, gas, and water meters) can use the L0 solution to connect more devices first, changing the long-standing difficult problem of dumb devices being unable to "speak" and difficult to interconnect.
Based on the OneConnect protocol, the L0 OpenHarmony and NearLink smart connectivity solution supports convenient network provisioning and interconnection. In the past, bringing a smartphone close to a home appliance and popping up a card could complete the network provisioning. Starting this year, smartwatches and routers can also help home appliances connect to the network quickly. After networking, cross-category and cross-manufacturer interconnection is realized based on OpenHarmony, allowing devices to be managed uniformly. Only after they can be connected and managed can AI agents truly intervene in interactive control and achieve AI collaboration.
AI brings more imagination and innovation space to lightweight consumer electronics, and the L1 solution enables the rapid implementation of innovation capabilities.
Cameras, two-wheelers, central control screens, AI toys, AI desk lamps, vlog cameras, desktop pet robots, drones, robotic arms, and more emerging new terminals can all complete light intelligence upgrades and incubate new product forms with the support of the L1 solution.
The solution includes underlying hardware, chips plus development boards, providing computing power and other functions to quickly complete prototype verification. In the middle is the integrated software and hardware foundation Hi-OHOS. It is HiSilicon's unified OpenHarmony OS platform, formed by adapting chips and enhancing frameworks for audio/video, AI, and connectivity based on the OpenHarmony OS. On this platform, it can carry self-developed algorithms and inference, and is also compatible with third-party large models for on-demand invocation. At the upper layer are scenario-oriented solutions.
Taking desk lamps as an example, past desk lamps could at most use an app to control the switch and brightness; current AI desk lamps come with cameras, can detect sitting posture, and allow word lookup at the fingertips. With stronger product competitiveness and better user experience, they are unlocking new consumer demands.
The L2 solution, on the other hand, targets larger screens and more complex scenarios, including large-screen TVs and commercial displays.
These devices mainly carry rich media capabilities and distributed collaboration, thus requiring more OS space. They can serve as intelligent hubs, carrying complex functions and complete solutions. For example, audio and video solutions like OpenHarmony's ZhiZhen Audio-Visual bring ultra-high-definition Vivid audio and video and minimalist interaction to TV consumers, delivering a better visual experience and reducing the tediousness of traditional TV remote controls.
In the future, with the further upgrade of the AI software and hardware foundation, AI agents can also run on large screens to help you book cars, buy tickets, and handle various affairs, becoming a true intelligent butler.
If there were only one path to light intelligence, then some terminals and developers would have to force themselves into ill-fitting shoes. Due to limited solutions, they would have to sacrifice some creativity or delay the development cycle. The gentleness of technology, just like the L0, L1, and L2 solutions of OpenHarmony, supports every type of terminal, telling them to fly with peace of mind.
The era of light intelligence has just begun. Turning OpenHarmony into the east wind that changes the industrial world requires aggregating the ecosystem, building consensus, and turning every air current into a combined force.
In this process, terminal manufacturers define product forms, system integrators connect data links, developers create new applications, and chip manufacturers build a solid foundation. All parties in the industry jointly promote standards, certification, and commercial deployment. Every participant in the ecosystem is an air current in this migration, jointly supporting the OpenHarmony and NearLink industry to go further and wider.
To this end, the GIIC Alliance, together with Huawei, officially released the "Hongtu Plan" this year, providing more comprehensive support for industry partners, ranging from development empowerment to certification assistance, and further to commercial promotion. Various enterprises in the light intelligence-related industrial chain are also taking action.
Taking HiSilicon as an example, it is accelerating its move towards ecosystem openness. On the one hand, it is deeply cultivating the OpenHarmony and NearLink platform, providing ecosystem partners with OpenHarmony and NearLink development kits and resources. At the same time, all light intelligence solutions will be listed on the HiSpark developer community, and an extensive case library will be established to support individual and enterprise developers in flexible combination and free adaptation, allowing them to quickly build the products they want like building blocks.
When every force in the ecosystem converges in the same direction, the entire industry gains the power to move forward continuously.
The wind of OpenHarmony never stops. Next, we will see ten billion terminals setting off lightly, heading to the next habitat, which is the spring nest of light intelligence.