Controversial domestic operating system: How far is it from "replacing" the giants?

Amid the trend of "domestic substitution", the news that the country's independent operating system will be launched in October was hotly discussed by the outside world.

In this regard, Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told China Business News yesterday that domestic operating systems such as desktop operating systems have been developed for many years and many companies are working on it. It is more accurate to say that the launch of an independent operating system hopes to unify the advantages of each company and launch a domestic operating system version that can support the "app store" model, and preparations have been made for this for more than half a year.

"We should concentrate our efforts on major tasks. Not every company should have its own operating system. Instead, each company should develop an ecosystem and create a version of the app store model so that everyone can share it. This will be beneficial to the overall development of the industry," Ni Guangnan told reporters.

In fact, in the field of information, there is still a big gap between my country and developed countries, including network infrastructure, intelligent terminals, high-end chips, operating systems and other key core technologies are still controlled by others. The reality that domestic operating systems have to face is that on the one hand, their own research and development has a serious path dependence on foreign systems, and on the other hand, international manufacturers still occupy an absolute market position in the field of operating systems. It is not easy to truly replace domestic operating systems.

Behind the "grouping" of 15 companies

In order to effectively promote the development and industrialization of my country's smart terminal operating system, the China Smart Terminal Operating System Industry Alliance was established not long ago. Its members include more than 80 units from various fields of industry, academia, research and application. Academician Ni Guangnan serves as the director of the alliance's technical expert committee.

Ni Guangnan stressed that "don't expect to get output without investment. We are not as good as the United States because we don't invest enough." In his opinion, there is still a gap in the innovation ability of my country's operating system. The improvement of innovation ability is reflected in R&D investment, intellectual property rights, R&D team, and innovation soft power.

"In the past, domestic operating systems could not be developed not because of a lack of talent, market or funds, but because of a lack of national will and top-level design. Now, under the leadership of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization, we can adopt innovative mechanisms such as industry alliances, integrate resources and work with the whole country to industrialize them."

Ni Guangnan told reporters that the use of the advanced "app store" model can mobilize all positive factors to build an ecological environment for domestic smart terminal operating systems. When the time is ripe, it will gradually be promoted from the desktop to the mobile operating system field.

"This is a trend. We have seen the development trend of mobile, which shows that the app store model has greater vitality. For example, more developers will provide applications for this operating system, and users will have more choices. Apple can provide support for millions of applications. Domestic operating systems can learn from this successful experience."

He told reporters that at present, there are more than ten companies in China that make mobile operating systems, but none of them can be said to have independent intellectual property rights. They are all customized on Android and are similar. Therefore, to make an operating system, we must change the past practices. We should not copy the previous model, but integrate the resources accumulated in the past and make a unified operating system under the leadership of the state. "Ni Guangnan said.

In addition, Ni Guangnan believes that innovation in the operating system business model is very important. "Creating an ecological environment that can compete with Google , Apple, and Microsoft is the key to our success."

"The systems between desktop, mobile and wearable will be increasingly integrated. We learn from Apple for better model innovation." Ni Guangnan said that the China Smart Terminal Operating System Industry Alliance is currently planning to establish an industry fund, which can be jointly funded by powerful companies, and companies with technology can use intellectual property rights to invest. The App Store will also adopt a corporate operation model, uniting 15 domestic operating system development companies, starting with standardization.

Domestic OS "independent battle" is still arduous

"It is too early to talk about competition before real industrial competition occurs," Li Zhenning, director of Zhongbiao Software, told reporters.

"Microsoft is still the only dominant player in desktop operating systems at present. This fact must be acknowledged. Although people's attention to this industry has increased this year, no one has yet seen who will be the No. 2 after Microsoft." Li Zhenning told reporters that replacing XP or desktop operating systems is actually still a long and arduous process.

He said that the period of "domestic substitution" may be relatively long. In addition to talent, there are also problems with compatibility between systems and the richness of application software. "Microsoft's application software is worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. We may be able to produce hundreds of them in a short period of time, but there is still a long way to go to enrich the market."

In fact, according to the survival law of the operating system market, a market can usually only accommodate 3-4 operating systems to obtain a relatively good distribution of benefits, form their own ecosystems, and achieve a positive cycle. For example, the four mobile terminal companies Android, iOS, WP, and Blackberry, in fact, the market share of the first two has almost reached 90%, and the latter two are still in the process of continuously investing capital to build an ecosystem, and the situation is not optimistic. Microsoft is the only one that dominates the desktop OS, and the domestic OS can only compete for the three or four places after the first place in the domestic market.

According to Li Zhenning, even if the 15 manufacturers in the above-mentioned industry alliance are added together, their operating system market share may not even be one-tenth of Microsoft's.

"But we can also see that the establishment of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Office and information technology projects are stimulating the growth of this industry." Li Zhenning told reporters that domestic operating systems are better than foreign products in terms of security and controllability, and many users may consider domestic systems during security audits and upgrades. These are rigid demands.

"What we need to do now is to grab some market share from Microsoft." Li Zhenning told China Business News that the current market opportunities he sees are in the industry informatization, as well as the server or customized development market. He said that as long as manufacturers have their own technical and service capabilities and can better meet customer needs, users will accept it.

"Some subway ticket collection systems in Beijing and Guangzhou have already used our Kylin operating system." Li Zhenning told reporters. In addition, Dell also announced at the beginning of this month that it would pre-install Kylin software operating system based on Linux in its commercial computer series.

In an interview with reporters, Ni Guangnan said that there is an opportunity before us now and we must seize it.

"We hope to start by replacing XP within one or two years, and first achieve domestic substitution on the desktop. Then, within three to five years, expand from the desktop to mobile terminals. This is a great opportunity," Ni Guangnan told reporters.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.