Honor CEO Launches Foldable Phone to Compete with iPhone in China
Honor Device Co.’s CEO suggests that Apple Inc.’s lack of a foldable phone in its product lineup is giving competitors an opportunity to surpass the popular iPhone maker.
On Wednesday, the Shenzhen-based company launched its latest foldable device, the Magic V2, which is less than 10mm thick. The phone has a standard glass display comparable to the iPhone 14 Pro on the outside and a 7.92-inch foldable OLED display on the inside.
The Magic V2 starts at 8,999 yuan ($1,254.5) in China, the same price as the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
“The product has only one target competitor – Apple’s top flagship phones,” Honor CEO George Zhao said in an interview before the announcement. “As strong as Apple is, it cannot meet all consumer demands.”
Honor, once a sub-brand of Huawei Technologies Co., split from the telecommunications equipment supplier in late 2020 after U.S. sanctions blocked Huawei’s access to advanced chips. As a standalone entity, Honor doesn’t have the same restrictions, and the Magic V2 features Qualcomm Inc’s latest Snapdragon 5G chipset.
The world’s biggest Android phone brands, from Samsung Electronics Co. to Xiaomi Corp., have all launched various foldable models, leaving Apple as the only top vendor without such an offering.
Foldables only accounted for a fraction of global smartphone shipments last year, but the opportunities are growing. Their larger screens are a selling point that helps Android manufacturers command higher prices and increase their typically paper-thin margins. More than 21 million foldable phones will ship this year, and the category will more than double by 2027, according to research firm IDC.
“Like the rise of electric cars, foldables have created a new arena for the smartphone industry,” Zhao said. Chinese smartphone consumers have long prioritized higher specifications and larger screens when making their purchasing decisions. Apple’s iPhone is one of the best-selling devices in the country, even though the market is competitive enough that the head of sales changes regularly.
Honor was the only major brand to grow shipments in Covid-ravaged China last year, defying a double-digit slump that hit the market at a decade low. Smartphone manufacturers face an even tougher battle in 2023, when the cooling economy dampens demand.
The company is mulling plans to sell the Magic V2 in overseas markets as well as in China, and Europe will be a key part of its expansion this year, Zhao said.
