By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 11th, 2024
While there are no specifics on price, amount expected, or location, Honor has revealed plans for an IPO years after leaving Huawei.
Huawei’s Honor smartphone spinoff brand has announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO). The company is looking to raise funds to expand its business as it continues to make a name for itself away from Huawei.
A company statement announced Honor’s IPO plans without extensive details. The statement read:
“In order to meet new strategic goals, Honor will continue to optimize its shareholding structure, attract diversified capital, and enter into the capital market through IPO.”
At the moment, there is no official information on how much the company is looking to raise or a timeline for the IPO. In addition, Honor did not announce the country it chose for the IPO.
Honor IPO to Boost Already Growing Sales
Honor sold 11.8 million handset units in China, the largest for the third quarter. For the same quarter, the company was also the fifth-largest brand in Europe by sales. Furthermore, research firm Canalys said Honor was the second biggest seller in China last year. In the three years since it spun off Huawei, Honor has recorded sales growth of nearly 200%.
In 2020, Huawei sold the Honor brand to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd, a company formed by more than 30 agents. The sale came after the United States government imposed sanctions and restrictions on technology companies in China. At the time, many employees moved from Huawei to Honor. The spinoff worked, as Honor was able to continue doing business with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc., sidestepping sanctions on Huawei. This allowed Honor to retain access to the Android operating system and software, along with the general ecosystem.
In September, Honor unveiled the Honor Magic V2, a flagship foldable smartphone it designed to cater to the international market. The Magic V2 is Honor’s second foldable smartphone.
Measuring 9.9mm, it is one of the slimmest phones on the market, weighing only 231g, which makes it one of the most lightweight. The phone has an impressive battery life, delivering about 14 hours of nonstop video playback when unfolded. Despite Honor’s strides, the phone maker is facing some challenges, including limited resources as an independent entity. This problem was more easily solvable when it was part of Huawei.
Honor May Appoint a New Chairman
Honor is reportedly gearing up to appoint a new chairman as part of its IPO plans. According to a report, Honor will appoint Wu Hui, the former chairman of the Shenzhen Water and Environment Group, as chairman. The report cited Jiemian News, which credited anonymous sources for the information. However, details have not been confirmed by Hui or Honor, as Jiemian News later deleted its report.
In April, Huawei announced the launch of an in-house software system to replace the US-designed system it used previously. The company made this transition as it continues to sidestep sanctions imposed by the US government. In an internal ceremony, the company announced the custom MetaERP system, which handles all of the company’s business scenarios, according to an official release.