Sure it's not that important for now. But i think if you don't go this path HarmonyOS will always be a Tier 2 operating system/kernel. The mentality of building it for Open Harmony first might never set in a bit like building stuff for linux desktop. Also the more people that use open harmony for high performance computing and applications the more things will be found in the operating system/kernel that can or needs to be improved.
The underlying rationale for the OS itself may also pigeonhole it. It was conceived at a time when there were limited options for non-Android/iOS software, and Huawei's domestic market share may have made them cocky in a way that will hurt them in the long run. History is littered with the corpses of other phone OSes that tried to go it alone (Nokia with Symbian OS, Ubuntu with Ubuntu Touch, Palm OS, etc.)
If my memory is accurate, development started initially as a response to sanctions against using Android and the Android app market. While Huawei could have used a completely vanilla fork of Android, there were limited options and there would still be no access to the app store. My assumption at the time was that there was a strong desire to have a completely boutique Chinese OS with matching control over an app store, and that was the impetus to launching Harmony. But now there are GrapheneOS, /e/, CalyxOS, not to mention phone software shells for more traditional Linux distributions that have really been making a lot of progress in recent years.
My suspicion is that Harmony OS itself will in the long run either:
- be licensed to other Chinese or international vendors at an attractive price
- be used by other manufacturers after Huawei pays them to install the OS to increase user based and encourage development
- be a loss leader, relying on state backing, or be a vanity project of Huawei executives
Putting all of that aside, China tends to push ahead once leaders put their minds to something. So if there is a strong desire for a domestic controled OS, they will likely get it. It might not be Harmony OS, but sooner or later something will emerge that combines the developer framework, has enough high level backing, and is pleasant enough to use on a wide enough range of devices that it will take off. There might be several for that matter. Not all competitors face the same restrictions as Huawei though.
