Huawei reportedly to launch self-developed browser kernel

Huawei's launch event is held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province on December 23, 2021. Photo: Shen Weiduo/Global Times

Chinese tech giant Huawei is reportedly conducting research and development (R&D) into a Chinese-developed browser kernel, expected to fill the gap in domestic technology.

Chinese Weibo blogger Chang'an Digital Jun shared a post over the weekend claiming that at the Huawei browser MEET X salon event, a manager from Huawei's browser team revealed that it will be possible to see a better Huawei browser come out in two years. 

Currently, browsers have four kernels: Trident, Webkiticon, Gecko, and Presto, all of which are US technologies. The area remains "a blind domain" for Chinese companies, according to the post.

Citing the blogger's post, a community named Hongmeng Technology, said in an article posted on its official WeChat account on Sunday that Huawei is expected to launch its self-developed browser kernel.

Over 50 percent share of China's browser market has been dominated by three international giants Google, Microsoft and Apple. At present, there are no locally developed browser kernels in China. Mainstream domestic browsers with the highest market share, such 360 browser, QQ browser, all use the Chromium kernel, which is a free and open-source browser developed by Google, according to the article.

The absence of Chinese firms in the browser kernel sector can be attributed to a late start in the field, missing the opportunity to participate in the formulation of industry standards, in addition to the significant R&D investment required to develop the technology. 

"For domestic internet giants such as Qihoo 360 Technologies and Tencent, they can only stand on 'the shoulders of the behemoths' to develop browsers that are more in line with the habits of Chinese web users. This is also the main way for domestic browsers to get ahead," the article said.