Huawei has announced that it will soon sell off it’s major subsidiary smartphone business. Honor has been a leading smartphone e-brand under Huawei Group, focusing on mid-range products for younger consumers. Huawei says the decision “has been made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival,” following “tremendous pressure” and “a persistent unavailability of technical elements needed for our mobile phone business.”
Honor will be owned by the newly-formed Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., a consortium of partners and government-backed businesses.
ALSO READ: Infinix Note 8 is here. Check out the specs, price and where to buy from
There has been no doubt Honor has always relied heavily on Huawei’s own R&D and innovative technology, so it comes as no surprise that the company has been equally hit by US sanctions preventing Huawei from doing business with American companies. Honor’s V30 line of phones, for example, uses the same Kirin 990 processor that powers Huawei’s P40 flagship devices. Since this Huawei brand will now be sold off to a different entity, they should have more flexibility to develop their products, potentially being able to deal with the likes of Google.
To ensure that the brand stays safe where it has been sold, Huawei says it “will not hold any shares or be involved in any business management or decision-making activities in the new Honor company.”
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Reuters reported earlier this month that a proposed Honor sale could reach 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion).
