SHANGHAI: Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday said its nascent homegrown operating system could be available on smartphones early next year, as it pushes to build an alternative app ecosystem after the US barred it from using Google's Android.

The source code for HarmonyOS will be made available beginning in December to software developers who create apps for smartphones, said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer products division.

HarmonyOS is so far used only with certain products including smart TVs, in-car entertainment systems and wearable devices, not the company's smartphones. Huawei is the number-two smartphone producer in the world after Samsung, but tech market analysis firm Canalys said Huawei surpassed the South Korean company in the virus-affected second quarter. Huawei is facing an intense campaign by the United States to isolate the firm, saying it poses a cybersecurity threat. Both Huawei and China's government deny the accusation.

The US has been pushing allies to shun products made by Huawei, which is also the global market leader for 5G and other telecom-network equipment. The Trump administration has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and introduced a series of steadily escalating moves to cut off its access to the computer chips and other technology the company needs to survive.