Due to US sanctions, Huawei is facing a lot of difficulties. Persecution forced it to sell Honor and the brand is positioned as an independent one. But not everyone believed that the sale was a sale and not a legal gimmick. A number of Senators in the US Congress doubted that Honor really left the Huawei protectorate and did not cooperate with the Chinese military.
They see the sale of Honor as a clever maneuver to get the company out of the hands of US sanctions, but it continues to leak data to the Chinese military. They have teamed up to urge Joe Biden to blacklist Honor. The corresponding letter was sent by senators to the address of the President of the United States.
They drew attention to the fact that Honor now has access to American technologies and components. With its selling stunt, Beijing “effectively evaded critical export controls. The company continues to pose a threat to US national security and by inaction the Commerce Department could create a precedent for getting away with it, signaling opponents that the US has exhausted its capabilities or willpower.”
What will be the reaction of the Joe Biden administration and the US Department of Commerce is unknown. But there is every reason to say that a very real threat looms on the horizon; for Honor to be under the yoke of sanctions. The Honor 50 series is entering the global market soon, and aggressive rhetoric emanating from the US could negatively affect sales of the company’s devices outside of China.
Gizchina News of the week
Honor successfully regains its position in the Chinese smartphone market
Research by Counterpoint Technology Market Research suggests that the Honor brand is strengthening its position in the world’s largest smartphone market, China.
The Honor brand, we recall, was forced to secede from the telecommunications giant Huawei; due to tough sanctions from the United States. Since then, the Honor brand has stepped up its research and development activities; and announced a number of products that have gained popularity among consumers.
As a result, Honor’s August sales in the PRC jumped 18% over the previous month. This, as noted, has made the company one of the fastest-growing brands in the smartphone segment.
Moreover, the Honor brand was able to bypass Xiaomi in terms of sales of devices in the Chinese market at the end of the last month. In the list of leading suppliers, the Honor brand came in third place with a share of approximately 15%.
Vivo smartphones are the most popular in China: in August, the share of this company was approximately 23%. In second place is another local developer – Oppo with a score of about 21%.
Thus, the three named companies control almost 60% of the world’s largest smartphone market.
