Honor draws up an India-specific plan

NEW DELHI: Chinese company Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is eyeing the top spot in India’s highly competitive smartphone market and has devised a new strategy supported by new branding. It is now planning to make fresh investments to bolster its manufacturing to export from India and set up a deep offline retail presence.

“We will have dedicated products for India with localised features as part of the strategy… India will now have full support from our global team for retail expansion, manufacturing and product portfolio,” George Zhao, global president, Honor told ET. “We are open for fresh investments, which will be aligned with our growth.”

The new strategy and branding, announced in China last year, is being implemented in India this year. Honor became China’s number one online brand in 2018, pipping Xiaomi, and now plans to replicate the success in India.


Huawei (along with Honor) was the third largest brand globally, with 16.1% share in the fourth quarter of 2018, against Xiaomi’s 7.6% share, according to IDC. In India, Honor was the second fastest growing brand with 183% growth in 2018, and was ranked No. 8 with 3.2 % share, as per Counterpoint Research.

“We have proven in China that we can win the market. Now, we want to replicate that in India without making any mistakes. India is a super important market for us and it has proven its value,” said Zhao. “The brand has a long-term strategy for India.”

Honor plans to be a full range player, with devices priced in Rs 7,000-40,999 range under the new strategy.