Honor plots relaunch in India

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Devices & Platforms; 21 August 2023; 21025 views

Chinese smartphone vendor Honor will launch manufacturing in India as part of plans to relaunch in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets and aims to capture 5% of market share by volume in 2024.

Reuters reported the former Huawei sub-brand will launch this year after signing a licensing deal with Indian company Honor Tech, which the company will operate as.

Honor Tech is led by former Realme CEO Madhav Sheth and it will launch three variants of smartphones in India in the mid-range by September. The CEO told Reuters, domestic shareholders own the company and Honor-branded smartphones will be made and sold all in India.

"The biggest challenge with the (Indian) government in the past was how can a (Chinese) brand be accountable in India?," said Sheth.

Chinese businesses have been under significant scrutiny in India, with rivals like Oppo facing police raids. The Indian government had banned several Chinese-developed apps and scrutinised investments to put off takeovers from the far east.

The company will also start manufacturing Honor devices in India next year.

It was widely reported Honor had exited the Indian market due to the rising scrutiny, which Honor had denied.