Chinese firm Huawei on Tuesday, November 17 confirmed the sale of its budget smartphone brand Honor to a consortium.
Honor was sold to a consortium of 30 agents and dealers, among them several state-owned investment firms in Huawei’s Shenzhen hometown.
Huawei explained that the sale was down to “persistent unavailability of technical elements needed for our mobile phone business.”
The company has faced immense supply chain challenges due to sanctions by the United States under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd. has thus decided to sell all of its Honor business assets to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd. This sale will help Honor’s channel sellers and suppliers make it through this difficult time.
“Once the sale is complete, Huawei will not hold any shares or be involved in any business management or decision-making activities in the new Honor company. This move has been made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival,” Huawei explained.
It was revealed that the acquisition was first proposed to Huawei by the consortium.
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Honor positioned itself as a youth-centric brand and marketed features most useful in the lifestyles of young people around the world.
In its China home market, Honor competed with other budget smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
It is also sold in South East Asia and Europe as well as Africa. In Kenya, Honor had emerged as a competitor for budget smartphone brands such as Infinix and Tecno.
While Huawei did not disclose financial details of the sale, reports indicate that the deal was valued at around $15 billion (Ksh109.2 billion).
“We hope this new Honor company will embark on a new road of honor with its shareholders, partners, and employees. We look forward to seeing Honor continue to create value for consumers and build a new intelligent world for young people,” the company asserted.
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