Chinese company Honor targets UAE millennials with budget smartphone

Honor devices have helped Huawei grow sales 38% in the second quarter of 2018

Chris Sunbaigong, president of Honor MEA, during the launch of the new 8X smartphone in Dubai. The National  
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Honor, a sub-brand of Chinese smartphone giant Huawei, is targeting UAE millennials with its latest budget-conscious smartphones.

Adding to its X-series line up, Honor hosted its global launch of its new smartphone Honor 8X in Dubai and Madrid, promising a better display and longer battery life than its previous models.

“We know that millennials are super tech-savvy and that is why we have maxed out all the features found in a flagship and wrapped a price tag on the Honor 8X that does not burn a hole in their pockets,” said Chris Sunbaigong, president of Honor MEA.

Honor devices drove Huawei sales to new highs in the second quarter of 2018, helping the company surpass Apple for the first time to move into the second position for global market share, according to research firm International Data Corporation. Huawei sold 49.9 million units in the second quarter, an increase of 38.6 per cent year-on-year amid an expansion of the budget-conscious brand into 70 markets, according to Gartner.

Samsung was the leader with 21 per cent market share, followed by Huawei and Apple with 15.9 and 12.1 per cent market share, respectively.

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At Dh999 in the UAE and 999 riyals in Saudi Arabia, Honor 8X comes with a 6.5-inch display, 128GB internal storage, 20MP artificial intelligence-enabled rear camera for better night photography and three colour options: blue, black or red.

“Honor is setting out to hit new benchmarks in terms of balance between value, design and performance. We have launched a device that enjoys flagship features at a budget friendly price to cater to our digital natives, the millennials,” stated Mr Sunbaigong.

Honor 8X, which will be available in Saudi Arabia from 8 October and will be launched in Central and Eastern Europe on October 11, deploys the latest technology of AI communications. If a person is in a noisy environment, such as on the metro or in brisk wind, the smartphone will recognise the background noise and enable AI noise cancellation to improve voice quality and enable clearer conversations.