Honor (stylized and marketed as HONOR) is a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

brand majority owned by a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...

controlled by the municipal government of

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

. It was formerly owned by

Huawei Technologies Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...

. Honor provides smartphone handsets primarily targeting young consumers but has also released

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s and

wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the skin, where they detec ...

. As of 2016, George Zhao was global president of Honor. In November 2020, Honor was acquired by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd.

History

Honor was founded in 2013 as a Huawei sub-brand with the aim of offering lower-cost products and targeting a younger audience than the parent company. Honor's line of smartphones allowed Huawei to compete with mid-range online smartphone brands in China and globally. Honor primarily sells products online, but some Honor products are also available at stores in select markets. In November 2020, the Honor brand was sold to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology, a majority state-owned company controlled by the Shenzhen municipal government, to "ensure" its then-parent company, Huawei's survival, due to US sanctions against them. U.S. sanctions restricted the sale of hardware components to Huawei by American firms.

Timeline of international expansion

Honor began to offer its products internationally in 2014, launching the Honor 3C in April in Malaysia, followed by the Honor 6 in Europe in October. By June 2015, the brand was available in 74 countries. In October that year, announced its goal to increase revenue to $5 billion (double the previous year) with plans to focus on India. 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. 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. Initially available for online purchase only, the Huawei Honor 5X was later made available at select brick and mortar stores. Also this year Honor started to sell the first fitness-trackers. In August 2016, '' Recode'' reported that Honor had sold over 60 million products, generating over $8.4 billion in revenue. 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. The phone earned "best of CES 2017" accolades from several technology publications, including Android Authority, ''

Digital Trends Digital Trends is a Portland, Oregon-based tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. With offices i ...

'', ''Slash Gear'', and ''Talk Android''. In 2018 Honor started to sell laptops and smartwatches, in 2019 earbuds and TVs. On 21 January 2021, Honor launched their first non-Huawei phone, the V40, after the dip in production of Honor devices caused by the removal of Google's Android mobile operating system after US sanctions, and a lack of support from Huawei's R&D division.

References

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