No official announcement yet, but the industry is already in an uproar.

Yu Chengdong, who had been off the radar for nearly a month, finally posted something auto-related—and it shot straight to the top of trending searches.

Image source: Weibo

The last time he talked about cars was October 3, when the S9 G9 conducted a Xinghe communication field test on the Duku Highway. Because he forgot to clean up the internal note "President Yu's repost copy" in the repost text, netizens teased him about it for quite a while.

After that, for a full month, several partner automakers of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility clustered to show off their sales figures. In the past, he would definitely have reposted and helped promote them at the first opportunity. This time, no matter how lively the battle reports were, he didn't say a word.

For someone who appears on camera frequently, silence sometimes leaves more room for the imagination than an official announcement. Word soon spread: Yu Chengdong no longer manages Huawei's auto business, and HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility will be handed over to the newly appointed Huawei director and Terminal BG CEO He Gang—though the specific handover timeline is currently unknown.

Just when the rumor was spreading more and more convincingly, a twist came.

On the afternoon of November 7, HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility officially announced the start of the S9 V8 test drive, and Yu Chengdong directly reposted: "Looking forward to hearing everyone's real feedback."

Image source: Weibo

The S9 V8 is presale-priced starting at 329,800 yuan. With models being released one after another, many people have the same question: with multiple lines such as AITO, Zunjie, and S9 running simultaneously, aren't they afraid their own cars will compete for orders and fight internally?

HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility's current model matrix stretches from over 100,000 yuan to over a million yuan. The broader the coverage, the higher the risk of internal order competition. This is precisely the hardest part of "having more children makes for better fighting."

The repost count of this Weibo post wasn't astonishing, but the amount of interpretation was.

This repost was also seen as a soft response to the rumors.

The rumor is old news resurfacing—and everyone misunderstood it

The source of the gossip was a blogger relaying the complaints of a veteran employee of Huawei's Car BU: after Old Yu stopped directly managing the auto business, many leaders in Car BU no longer had their minds on products, other considerations increased, and the atmosphere became somewhat bureaucratic.

Image source: Weibo

These words were immediately interpreted as Yu Chengdong completely withdrawing from the auto business. The blogger later clarified himself: his direct management of Car BU was only from May 2021 to September 2023, and he had long stopped handling daily operations. This was not new news.

Image source: Weibo

In April 2025, he had already stepped down as chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solution BU and became vice chairman of Yinwang. Daily technical operations of Car BU had long ceased to be under his management. In other words, "no longer directly managing" had already happened once three years ago.

Anyone familiar with the rhythm of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility knows that in the past he was almost the most frequent voice on this business line. New car launches, technology tests, delivery data—even details like airbags—he would come out and speak.

Once updates stopped, market nerves tensed up. The auto circle moves too fast, and the frequency of executives' voices is a weather vane. When someone who stands on the podium every day suddenly disappears, speculation naturally cannot be stopped.

There is also a detail: at the Chongqing AITO oath-taking rally, aimed at sales and cooperation with Seres, Yu Chengdong did not show up. Huawei's side was represented by He Gang, and Seres was represented by Zhang Zhengping and He Liyang.

Image source: Weibo

While AITO pushes volume, Zunjie restarts V800 promotion, carefully repairing its previous reputation. This repost may not count as refuting rumors, but the signal is very direct: he is still HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility's most important signboard.

He Gang's rise: the veteran pulled into terminal by a phone call from Yu Chengdong

A big reason the rumor could ferment is He Gang's job change.

On October 23, Huawei's official website list quietly updated: Terminal BG CEO He Gang changed from alternate director to director, and his Weibo certification was updated accordingly; on the same day, former director Peng Bo exited. There was no press release, and it looked like a routine replacement, but its weight was not light.

Image source: Huawei official website

Image source: Weibo

He Gang was born in 1973, holds a master's degree from Xidian University, and joined the company in 1998. He was initially a fierce general in the wireless business and once managed global wireless sales. At that time, wireless was Huawei's ballast, while terminal was still a side business that didn't rank.

The phone call that changed his career trajectory came at the end of 2011. Yu Chengdong said only one sentence: "He Gang, come do phones."

Moving from B-end base stations to phones facing hundreds of millions of users was completely different in logic. He still accepted it, became president of the phone product line in 2012, and later worked his way up to Terminal BG COO.

The partnership model was thus set: Yu Chengdong set the direction and spoke on the front stage, while He Gang stayed backstage to grasp implementation and manage supply chain and daily operations. One commander and one general, they worked together for more than a decade.

In April 2024, Yu Chengdong stepped down as Terminal BG CEO and became chairman, while He Gang took over as CEO. Phones, the HarmonyOS ecosystem, and smart selection cars all came under him. The division of strategy and implementation was thus established.

Chairman paired with CEO, the outside world has always called these two Huawei Terminal's "best partners": one responsible for speaking on the front stage, the other responsible for getting things done backstage.

Now terminal has formed a dual-director configuration of chairman and CEO, which is rare in Huawei. Huawei Cloud has the same arrangement: Chairman Zhang Ping'an is an executive director, and CEO Zhou Yuefeng is a director.

Image source: Huawei official website

Terminal is not just about selling hardware. It is the group's second-largest revenue pillar, with revenue of 344.473 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for nearly 39%, and it is also the carrier of the HarmonyOS ecosystem, on-device AI, and smart selection cars.

The phone market is cold; HarmonyOS crosses the life-and-death line

The timing of He Gang's promotion to director coincided with the coldest time in the phone industry.

In the third quarter of 2026, the domestic market continued to shrink. IDC shipments were about 57.9 million units, down 15.4% year on year, and Omdia statistics hit a same-period low since 2013. Memory prices rose, costs went up, and the whole industry was under pressure.

While the market declined, Huawei moved against the trend. In the third quarter, its domestic share held steady at around 21%, the only top manufacturer maintaining double-digit growth. Counterpoint gave 21.3%, Omdia 21%, and IDC 21.1%. Different calibers, same conclusion. Changxiang guarded entry-level, nova stabilized mid-range, Mate carried high-end, foldables continued to attract new users, and Huawei and Apple together took over 40% of the domestic market.

Image source: Counterpoint Research

More critically, HarmonyOS crossed the life-and-death line. As of October 23, installed base exceeded 100 million units. Xu Zhijun said that 100 million is the critical point for an operating system ecosystem. Crossing it means moving from the introduction period into the growth period, and the monetization logic is completely different. This is also the goal He Gang focused on: setting the target in May and revealing in August that over ten billion yuan had already been invested.

Behind the growth, pressure is not small. Revenue in the 2026 semi-annual report was 467.819 billion yuan, up 9.55% year on year; net profit was 23.428 billion yuan, down 36.77% year on year. Profit was squeezed from both ends: R&D spent 121.382 billion yuan in the first half, up 25.2% year on year, accounting for nearly 26% of revenue; memory price increases also pressed hardware gross margins, and Huawei officially announced price adjustments in September.

There are also rumors in the circle that HarmonyOS sub-brand Xingmang focuses on cost-effectiveness, covering phones, small appliances, and wearables, but there is still no official confirmation.

But the division of labor at launch events has not changed: in September He Gang talked about HarmonyOS 7 and wearables, and in October Mate90 was still presented by Yu Chengdong. One builds the ecosystem, the other carries the flagship.

Image source: Huawei launch event

Image source: Weibo

After entering the board, he can compete for resources for terminal and HarmonyOS at the group level, balance R&D investment, and push HarmonyOS from competing on installed base to a commercial closed loop. Developer returns and on-device AI monetization will all be accounts he needs to keep following. This is much harder than making a phone sell explosively.

The essence of the rumor: division adjustment is not a power handover

He Gang holds terminal operating rights, and smart selection cars are an important part of the terminal ecosystem, so the outside world guessing that he directly manages HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility is logically reasonable. But so far, Huawei has not issued any official announcement confirming it.

Yu Chengdong's repost is not an official announcement that he will stay, nor does it mean there will be no further optimization of the division of labor. It is more like drawing a boundary: he is still the core brand symbol of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility, but daily management is no longer the same as it was from 2021 to 2023.

Adjustments to the powers and responsibilities of executives at big companies are normal, and optimizing the division of labor does not equal a complete exit. It's just that his imprint on this business line is too deep, so any change in rhythm creates more stories.

Looking at the events of the past two years together makes the logic clearer: Yu Chengdong is terminal chairman, He Gang is CEO, and their positions themselves are two sides of the same coin.

And the weight of phones, chips, and AI in Huawei's product system has clearly been rising in recent years, which is exactly where Yu Chengdong has appeared most frequently in public. Following this logic, part of HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility's management will most likely be led by He Gang going forward, while Yu Chengdong's energy focus returns to phones, chips, and AI.

Image source: Weibo

This is not a power handover, but more like a shift in focus. The cards have not changed—only who looks more at which part, and the ratio has changed.

The storm was put on pause by a repost, but the contradictions have not disappeared. How HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility's multiple lines will differentiate, how resources will tilt between AITO and Zunjie, and whether there will be further personnel changes in the business line can only be answered when Huawei officially speaks. Speculation pieced together in the industry through "stopping updates" and "absence" is ultimately just speculation.

Thirteen years ago, a phone call brought He Gang into terminal; now the board seat is settled, and this pair must play a bigger game together. HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility is the heaviest piece on this board.

Interactive topic: Do you think that as HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility releases more and more models, internal competition will emerge? Will Yu Chengdong still speak frequently for new cars like before? Welcome to chat in the comments section.

Disclaimer: This article is only a financial commentary on big companies and does not constitute any investment advice. The corporate data and regulatory events involved in the article all come from public information and are for reference only; the specific situation is subject to official releases. Images are from the internet. If there is any copyright issue, please contact us for deletion.