The Role of Ecosystem in Operating System Success and the Current State of Chinese OS Vendors

Operating systems act as the core component that allocates hardware resources and controls processor, memory, and I/O access among competing programs.

Historically, Windows and macOS have captured the majority of the desktop market, while many other OSes disappeared due to commercial missteps, hardware incompatibility, and fragmented ecosystems.

The Wintel alliance illustrates how tight integration between hardware (Intel) and software (Microsoft) creates a powerful ecosystem that secures market dominance; Windows held about 80.5% of the global desktop OS market in 2020, with even higher share in China.

Chinese OS vendors such as Kylin Software and UnionTech (formerly Tongxin) are emerging as significant players. By 2020, the domestic OS market reached ¥2.668 billion with a 25.65% CAGR. Kylin and UnionTech dominate the general‑purpose OS segment, forming a duopoly.

UnionTech’s Deepin community, founded in 2004, has released over 40 versions, amassed more than 60 million downloads, and contributed roughly 6 million lines of code, while Kylin’s Ubuntu‑Kylin community has achieved tens of millions of downloads worldwide.

Ecology metrics compiled by Yiou Intelligence show that, as of Q3 2021, UnionTech’s hardware compatibility (39 518 items) exceeds Kylin’s by about 20%, and its server‑side hardware adaptations (5 694 items) surpass Kylin by 44%.

In hardware, UnionTech supports 683 desktop devices versus Kylin’s 377, while Kylin leads in peripheral support (6 956 vs. 6 070). In software, UnionTech’s server adaptations (2 448) and desktop adaptations (1 454) both outpace Kylin’s (1 776 and 766).

Both companies invest heavily in R&D and patents; UnionTech filed 155 patents compared with Kylin’s 69, with a 420% year‑over‑year increase in 2021.

The article concludes that Chinese OSs must (1) strengthen upstream‑downstream collaborations to close the ecosystem loop, (2) promote open‑source development and vibrant developer communities, and (3) improve compatibility with major domestic and international software applications to achieve true technological independence.