Honor aims to retain three-digit sales growth next year

KUALA LUMPUR: Having recorded 150 per cent global sales growth in the first 10-months of this year, Huawei’s sub brand, Honor, is confident of maintaining a three- digit growth next year.

Its president, George Zhou, said its first year of global strategy was a success story despite other competitors recording flat or even drop in sales.

“We are now preparing for our second and third year. In our global strategy, we aim to be among the top five global smartphone brand by end- 2020,” he said during an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

The fastest growing smartphone brand ranked fourth in the domestic market.

“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.

“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 player,” he added.

Zhou said Honor would focus on four to five series lined up in each country and wants each model to be among the top 10 in every market it is operating.

He added that the 8X, launched in October in the Malaysian market, already emerged among the top 10 models in the country.

“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 why Malaysia is very special to us,” he said.

As for the 5G smartphone, Zhou said Honor was planning to launch it in 2019.

“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.

Meanwhile, its latest AI capabilities smartphone concept will be featured in the Honor View 20 model.

“Honor Magic 1 smartphone was our first AI trial. We will introduce new AI concept in Honor View 20 which will inherit all the main capabilities from Honor Magic.

“It will be the next Honor highend smartphone,” he added. — Bernama