Honor is looking to SA to be the springboard for the smartphone brand into other African nations.
This is according to Likun Zhao, Honor president for Middle East and Africa, speaking at the launch event of the company’s flagship smartphone in Illovo, Johannesburg.
On Wednesday evening, the company unveiled the Honor Magic4 Pro smartphone, its first flagship device launched in the local market under the management of its new parent company.
Zhao indicated Honor is present in 100 markets, noting SA is the “most important” country for the brand. “We hope that South Africa can impact the other African countries.”
This comes as the smartphone brand re-establishes itself in the local market, after separating from its former parent company Huawei.
Amid the sanctions it faced in the US, Chinese technology giant Huawei decided to sell its Honor smartphone sub-brand in November 2020 to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology, in an effort to save it.
At the time, Huawei said the sale will help Honor's channel sellers and suppliers make it through this difficult time.
Under new ownership, Honor’s devices are equipped with Google Mobile Services, which are the Google apps that often come pre-installed on Android devices.
Zhao pointed out the “big” differentiator for Honor products is Google and 5G, adding the company hopes to help local operators make the migration from 3G to 4G, and 4G to 5G.
“Honor will provide all Magic Series smartphones with 5G to South Africa,” he said.
“Huawei put 10% of its revenue in research and development (R&D). Last year, Honor put 8% of its revenue into R&D, so we believe we will have the same innovative products for the local consumer.”
According to Zhao, in its home country of China, Honor wants to be the number one smartphone brand by the end of this year, after claiming the top spot in the first quarter of this year.
Similarly, the company looks to emulate this growth in the South African market in the near future, he added. “I hope for South Africa, maybe in three years, we can achieve the same target of China. This is our vision.
“We want to build a global and iconic brand, and we want to provide high-end products.”
He said Honor’s product strategy is similar to that of Huawei. “We [Honor] will follow the [same] successful strategy as Huawei but will be separate.”
He commented that the company received good feedback for its Honor 50 smartphone, which was pre-installed with Google services.
“The Magic3 Series has good performance in China, but we didn’t introduce it to the overseas market. In South Africa, we introduce the first Magic Series – the Magic4 Pro.”
For its Magic Series devices, Honor has two types of smartphones, including one that is foldable, he explained.
“In the first half of next year, we will introduce the first foldable smartphone to South Africa.”
In addition to smartphones, Zhao noted Honor plans to introduce laptops, smart watches, tablets and big screens to the local market.
Honor’s Magic4 Pro smartphone goes on sale tomorrow, 10 June.
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