Chinese tech giant Huawei launched its highly-anticipated homegrown mobile operating system on Wednesday, opening a new front in its fight for survival in the smartphone arena after the US blocked it from using Android.

The company says its new HarmonyOS system is packed with special features and capitalises on growing demand to seamlessly link devices — known as “Internet of things”. But analysts say Huawei faces an uphill climb getting enough app developers to devise software and content for the OS to keep consumers buying the company’s phones in a world dominated by Google’s Android andApple’s iOS.