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Huawei last month announced the sale of its secondary smartphone brand HONOR to a consortium of around 40 companies. Soon after, reports emerged that the new HONOR is looking to enter the flagship smartphone market. Rumors suggested it would use the newly-announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 inside its first flagship phone. A new report coming from China has now reiterated those claims.
According to the latest report, HONOR is already in talks with Qualcomm for supplying Snapdragon 888 chips for its upcoming flagship. The Chinese company is very optimistic and is hopeful of reaching an agreement soon, the report adds.
During the Snapdragon Technology Summit earlier this month, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon had said that the company is “very happy to see a new participant in the market”. He suggested that “there will be a dialogue between” two companies down the line. Well, it appears the talks are now underway.
HONOR in talks with Qualcomm for Snapdragon 888 chips
Under Huawei, HONOR primarily made mid-range and low-cost smartphones. However, Huawei now no longer holds any share in HONOR, neither it is a part of the company’s executive board. The new HONOR, owned by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd., which is a consortium of more than 30 agents and dealers of the HONOR brand, is now looking to make a bigger name for itself.
CEO Zhao Ming announced during an employee communications meeting recently that HONOR aims to become the biggest smartphone brand in China. The Chinese smartphone market is highly competitive, with brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo fighting neck on neck. HONOR surely has its task cut out here.
The company is seemingly betting on a flagship smartphone to make early inroads. However, it is also planning to release other mobile products outside of smartphones, including smartwatches, audio products, and more.
While there’s absolutely no other information available about HONOR’s upcoming flagship smartphone yet, the fact that it’ll be using a Snapdragon 88 chipset means it will be a top of the line offering. The company will be competing directly against some of the biggest and well-established names in the global flagship smartphone market.
In the meantime, Huawei is also preparing to launch the mid-range V40 series early next year. The smartphones were initially in the pipeline for a December 2020 release. However, newer reports suggest they may not arrive until January next year. HONOR will reportedly use the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ chipset in the V40 series.