Honor was founded in 2013 as a Huawei sub-brand.[2] Honor's line of smartphones allowed Huawei to compete with mid-range online smartphone brands in China and globally.[3][4][5] Honor primarily sells products online, but some Honor products are also available at stores in selected markets.[6][7]
On 15 May 2019, the US government imposed a ban on Huawei and its subsidiary Honor. In particular, this prevented the availability of rapid security updates and apps such as the Play Store, Google Maps and Gmail on Honor smartphones.[8]
In order to establish independence from Huawei and thus "ensure" Honor's continued existence, the brand and the associated business areas were sold to the company Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd.,[1][9] a newly founded conglomerate of 30 Chinese companies, some of which have close ties to the government.[10][11] The founder and main shareholder of the conglomerate is Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co, a Shenzhen state-controlled company.[1][11][12] On 17 November 2020, Huawei announced that it had sold Honor entirely.[13]
Timeline of international expansion
Honor began to offer its products internationally in 2014,[2] launching the Honor 3C in April in Malaysia,[14] followed by the Honor 6 in Europe in October.[15] By June 2015, the brand was available in 74 countries.[5] In October that year, announced to increase revenue to $5 billion with plans to focus on India.[16][17]
In 2015, Honor's Vmall online store, previously available only in China, launched in Europe and the United Kingdom, enabling direct purchases from the manufacturer.[18][19][20]
Honor made its debut in the United States with the release of the Huawei Honor 5X at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2016.[21][6] Initially available for online purchase only, the Huawei Honor 5X was later made available at select brick and mortar stores.[21] Also this year Honor started to sell the first fitness-trackers.[2]
In August 2016, Recode reported that Honor had sold over 60 million products, generating over $8.4 billion in revenue.[22]
In January 2017 at CES, Honor announced that the Honor 6X, previously available only in China, would be available in thirteen new markets, including the United States.[23][24] The phone earned "best of CES 2017" accolades from several technology publications, including Android Authority,[25][26]Digital Trends,[27]Slash Gear,[28] and Talk Android.[29]
In 2018 Honor started to sell laptops and smartwatches, in 2019 earbuds and TVs.[2]
Since the US sanctions and the brand sale to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology in 2020 Honor has maintained its presence in the Indian market and launched laptops and wearables through e-commerce platforms.[30] The first non-Huawei phone, the V40, was released in January 2021[31] and with the Honor 50 release in December 2021 they provided the first smartphone that supported Google Play Services again.[32] Globally, the brand has decided to focus aggressively on the foldable smartphone, with the intent to provide high-end foldables at affordable prices.[30]
Products
The company offers smartphones and tablets with Android and the EMUI and Magic UI user interfaces, Windows laptops, wearables, earbuds, TVs, and smart home devices.[2]
Smartphones
Honor 8 from 2016
Honor's main smartphone series progresses numerically in increments of 10 over the generations. The current device (as of November 2023) is the Honor 90. Sometimes, "Lite" and "Pro" sibling models are also released.[2]
Honor's second line of smartphones has different names depending on where they are marketed. In China, this line is known as the V series, while internationally, the phones are marketed under the name "View." For example, while the Honor V30 was released in China, it was known as the Honor View 30 elsewhere. This series is typically used to test features that eventually make their way into the flagship line.[2]
Another key series in Honor's smartphone lineup is the X series, a budget-friendly series with large screens and long-lasting batteries. The latest generations of X phones featured popup cameras and were sometimes available in Pro and Lite variants.[2]
Finally, Honor has revived its Magic line with the premium devices Honor Magic 3 and the foldable Magic V. It appears that Honor will use this model designation more frequently in the future.[2] In 2023, Honor brought its first foldable smartphone, the Honor Magic VS, to the European market.
In addition to the main series mentioned above, Honor also has less widely known series at generally lower prices, such as the S, A, I, and C series, which also follow the generation numbering scheme.[2]
Notebooks
In April 2018,[33] the first notebook of the brand, the MagicBook, was released.[34] The series has been continued regularly as Honor's only laptop series.
TVs
In 2019, Honor launched its first two TVs, the Vision and Vision Pro. So far, no successors have been released.[2]
Wearables
Since 2016, Honor has been offering fitness trackers and, since 2018, smartwatches.[2] These products are marketed under the names Honor Watch (smartwatches) and Honor Band (fitness trackers).
Audio
Since 2019, Honor has released wireless earbuds under various model series.[2]
MagicOS[36] (formerly known as Magic UI, and Magic Live UI),[37] is an Android-derived mobile operating system developed by Chinese technology company Honor. It is used on the company's smartphones and tablets.[38]
History
MagicOS was originally developed by Huawei before the split in November 2020, it was rebranded EMUI with minor aesthetic difference for HONOR devices. Before the split, high-end HONOR devices were running on Magic UI while medium to low-end devices continued to run on EMUI.
It has gone through several name changes throughout it introduction, which initially known as Magic Live when it was introduced on the first HONOR Magic phone, and again renamed to Magic UI[39] with the introduction of HONOR Magic 2, which they renamed it again on 2022 to MagicOS.
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