Chinese consumer electronics company Honor established its flagship foldable smartphone overseas, venturing into a high-end market

September 4, 2023: Chinese consumer electronics company Honor established its flagship foldable smartphone overseas, venturing into a high-end market overwhelmed by Samsung and Apple.

The company said the Honor Magic V2 will go on sale in markets in Europe and elsewhere but not in the United States no later than the first quarter of 2024.

Honor was sold to a consortium of investors to spin it off from Huawei after the latter was slapped with several U.S. sanctions that cut it off from crucial technology and crushed its smartphone business, taking it from the No. 1 player in the world to a tiny part of the overall market.

Honor has been examining to chart its path since the spinoff, making a play, especially for the premium segment of the smartphone arena, and expanding overseas.

The Magic V2 is the company’s next foldable smartphone. The entire phone can be folded and unfolded.

Honor launched the handset in China in July, with the device starting at 8,999 yuan, and it has gotten off to a strong start. The Shenzhen-headquartered firm will be hoping for similar success abroad. Pricing has yet to be announced for the phone in global markets.

Honor commanded a 5.2% market share in the second quarter of this year, slightly higher than the 4.9% in the same period last year, and it remains a minor player in the market, according to IDC. China accounts for nearly 78% of Honor’s smartphone freight, highlighting its reliance on its domestic market.