Having recorded 150% global sales growth in the first ten months of this year, Honor is confident that it will maintain its three-digit growth next year.
According to its president George Zhao, the brand has its sights set on becoming one of the top-5 smartphone brands in the world, in amongst notable names like Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi.
“We are now preparing for our second and third year. In our global strategy, we aim to be among the top five global smartphone brands by end-2020,” he said during an interview in Kuala Lumpur.
Zhao is proud of Honor’s achievement so far. The brand registered growth while its competitors, Zhao claims, are reporting a flat growth, some even reporting a drop in sales.
“The global smartphone market is flattish and is decreasing in China. Huawei and Honor are the only two brands maintaining a double-digit growth in China, while others are flat or decreasing”.
Despite the success, Zhao maintains that Honor is still very much a challenger brand and one that needs to work on increasing its market share.
“But our base is still small. Despite the three-digit growth, we still need time to achieve our target to emerge among the top five global players,” he added.
Zhao shared that Honor will be focusing on a four to five device line-up in markets where the brand is available. He wants Honor devices to make it onto the top-10 list in every market that it has presence.
Malaysia, a key market
He added that the Honor 8X, launched in October here, has
“Malaysia was the first market in Asia Pacific we entered two years ago. We hope Malaysia can be a benchmark for other markets in this region and contribute to Honor’s Asia Pacific business module. That is why Malaysia is very special to us,” he said.
5G-enabled Honor phones from next year
Honor has plans to launch 5G-enabled devices as early as next year, according to Zhao but availability will depend on where the network is ready.
“We see big opportunities in 5G over the next 10 years. So, we consider 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) as the most critical technology for Honor.
“Next year, the first 5G Honor phone will come to the market but its features will depend on operator infrastructure, deployment and progress,” he added.
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