Honor smartphone shipments declined -4% YoY globally in Q4 2022, this is the two sequential quarters posting annual downwards track, but it still outperformed overall market which contracted -19% YoY.

Honor launched many new products in Q4 2022, including Honor 80 series, X40 GT, Magic Vs and Vs Ultimate. 

In our research on the latest Chinese online shopping festivals, we have recommended vendors to actively seek growth in gaming and foldable phone segments. It is no wonder Honor updated its foldable line-up and introduced two gaming phones 80 GT and X40 GT in this quarter.

On the other hand, Honor made its Numbers series 80 more affordable. It ditched Pro Plus model, reintroduced SE version, and made 80 Pro’s full retail prices cheaper than the 70 Pro’s. However, the number series took significantly less volume share YoY in Q4 2022. We believe Number series' frequent refresh cycle (half year) and limited hardware upgrade caused consumer fatigue and this mixed performance.

It is estimated that Honor's smartphone wholesale ASP and revenue had double-digit declines YoY in Q4 2022, due to the decline of Number series' ASP and the greater mix of entry- to mid-tier models such as the X series.

Honor is strongly recommended to speed-up its overseas market growth in 2023 since it still heavily relied on China market. Being the largest Android vendor in its domestic market, Honor could not duplicate its success out of China and was behind its major competitors such as Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO in other regions in Q4 2022.

The rumoured Huawei’s 4G ban would favour Honor in both China and overseas markets this year. The availability of more premium such as Magic 5 and foldable models in overseas markets would help to enhance the brand equity of the Chinese company.