Honor was formally split from Huawei in November 2020 and that way bypassing US sanctions. Following the alliances with major chipset makers and Google, the company headed for the resiliency journey since 2H 2021 and continued the upwards track this quarter.

Honor Smartphones shipment increased +129% in Q1 2022 starting from a low base last year, thanks to the greater mix of high-end models including Honor Number series and Magic series. Honor is facing robust headwinds in the Russian markets due to the Ukraine – Russia war.

Honor continues the resilience track in home market thanks to the extended product portfolio, the successful channel expansion in both online and offline, and the secured partnership with key suppliers and distributors. In Its home market it is one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands, growing +200% YoY in Q1 2022. In January 2022, Honor revealed its first foldable smartphone, the Honor Magic V, signalling its global aspiration tapping premium market. The company view the new form factor as an opportunity to get a foothold in the premium market.

Looking forward, the slow-down in China, the ongoing Ukraine - Russia war and expanding to premium category is expected to affect the Honor’s global performance in 2022.

Meanwhile, we have employed SA Lens to evaluate vendors and compare them with their peers. According to the SA Lens (see the chart below), Honor scored 3 (out of 5) in Q1 2022, which evaluates Honor as vendor proficient in Tech leadership, but with a need to improve in other categories.

Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) clients can find the answers of all questions, and much more, in the full report here.