Chinese smartphone Honor will relaunch in India through a licensing deal with a local company, aiming to start domestic production early next year, its country head told Reuters.
Honor had stopped selling its smartphones in India and reportedly declined last year due to a limited marketing budget.
“India has never been a focus market for Honor, which was owned by Huawei Technologies until 2020. So, it was forced to spin off the brand and reevaluate the strategy,” said Neil Shah, vice president at Counterpoint Research.
Honor's relaunch is supported by a licensing deal with a Gurugram-based start-up called Honor Tech, for an undisclosed "agreed fee" associated with the technology.
It will launch three variants of Honor phones in India, with the mid-range Numberexpected by September.
See also: HONOR 9 series images released
The company, which is wholly owned by local shareholders, will manufacture, sell and service smartphones under the Honor brand in India.
"All the phones will be manufactured in India," said CEO Madhav Sheth, without revealing further details.
“The biggest challenge with the (Indian) government in the past was, how can a (Chinese) brand be accountable in India?” said Sheth, a former executive at rival Realme, who was credited with its expansion in India.
Chinese businesses are facing various issues in India, with the government banning many apps and tightening investment controls to prevent takeover moves from its neighboring country.
Honor will compete with companies such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) – the top seller in India with a market share of nearly 20% – followed by Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme and others, according to Counterpoint Research.
See also: Honor Magic V2: The thinnest foldable phone to date
According to Sheth, Honor Tech aims to capture a 5% share of the Indian smartphone market. The sales volume is expected to generate revenue of at least 100 billion rupees ($1.20 billion).
Source: reuters.com
