Why China Has Not Developed Its Own Operating System or Programming Language: A Historical and Industry Analysis

The author begins by noting the curiosity sparked by two Zhihu posts questioning why China has not created its own operating system or programming language, and then offers a personal answer that attributes the lack to China's lagging IT industry, which still follows rather than leads global trends.

He reviews the evolution of operating systems, categorizing them into PC, server, mobile, and embedded systems, and observes that most users only encounter Windows, Android, and iOS, while other systems remain obscure.

The piece highlights that building a successful OS requires more than technical prowess; it needs the right timing, location, and human factors, illustrated by the rise of DOS, Windows, and the dominance of Windows in the PC era.

In the mobile arena, the author describes how iOS and Android captured the market due to favorable timing (post‑2000 hardware advances), geographic advantage (US as the IT hub), and key talent (e.g., Steve Jobs), while other contenders like Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone failed.

He then argues that China’s current lack of market share in OSes stems from the overall underdevelopment of its IT industry, which has not positioned itself at the forefront of technological waves.

Looking forward, the author outlines new opportunities for China: the widespread adoption of 5G, strong domestic hardware manufacturers (Huawei, Xiaomi, etc.), and large internal markets that can amortize R&D costs, suggesting that future OS breakthroughs could arise when these conditions align.

The discussion extends to programming languages, noting that successful languages solve real industry problems (e.g., Python’s rise through Google’s adoption and big‑data needs) rather than being invented in isolation.

Finally, the author reflects that while the next major technological shift is uncertain, history shows accelerating development cycles—from decades for PCs to a few years for smartphones—implying that when the next wave arrives, China may finally have the “tian shi, di li, ren he” to create its own operating system.