HONOR 200 Launch Reinforces HONOR as UAE's Fastest-Growing AI-Driven Smartphone Brand

HONOR has chalked out an aggressive strategy to expand its presence in the Middle East region and increase its market share by catering to the needs of all segments of the society, its top official says.

Laurance Li, Country Manager at HONOR - GCC, said the leading global technology brand will strengthen its presence in the UAE by setting up three HONOR Experience Stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this year.

“We are going to inaugurate our first HONOR Experience Store in Dubai next month and it is followed by two more stores opening in the UAE this year,” Li told Khaleej Times during an interview at the launch of HONOR 200 series in the Middle East region.

Li, an industry veteran with 18 years of experience in the mobile phone industry, manages multi-country business activities in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and other states in the region. His career spans a range of critical roles, including front-line channel sales, go-to-market strategies, e-commerce and retail management.

“We want to introduce HONOR Experience stores in the UAE and then other parts of the region to replicate the success of our business model in China. The company is keen to open new experience stores in premium retail destinations of the region,” Li said.

He said HONOR will also strengthen its relationship with its more than 850 retail partners in the region to ensure availability of its products to the GCC consumers. He lauded the role of HONOR’s leading retail partners such as Emax, Jumbo, Sharaf DG, Virgin Megastore, Amazon and noon, among others, and said the company will continue working towards expanding its presence in the GCC.

“In the UAE market share, we have leaped to Top 4 in first quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 105 per cent. Due to robust popularity of innovative flagship products, we are aiming to achieve 10 per cent market share by end of 2024,” he said.

Elaborating, he said HONOR introduced the world’s thinnest and lightest foldable phone Magic V2 in the UAE this year. The flagship device measuring 9.9mm catering to the needs of high-end segment and now the HONOR 200 Series will serve mid-market segment.

“Our aim is to serve every price segment in the market. We have launched various high-end and entry level products, and now we are focusing Gen Z through state-of-the-art AI-powered HONOR 200 series with attractive price range,” he said.

Value for money

Li said smartphone segment is competitive globally and only those brands will win the heart of tech-savvy consumers and buyers who offer value for money products to them.

“HONOR reinforces its position as a frontrunner in technological innovation because it spends heavily in research and development (R&D) to cater to the needs of consumers. We invest 11.5 per cent of our annual revenue on R&D to incorporate latest technologies in our devices,” Li said.

“HONOR is number one technology brand in China and also includes among top four leading global brands due to popularity of its smart devices over the years,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said the company is trying its best to reduce the time gap between the product launch in China and other parts of the world.

“Global launch of consumer devices, simultaneously, is not aligned now because of regulatory issues, privacy and data usage rules as each country/region has its own policy and brands must ensure compliance on local laws. At HONOR we have reduced the gap and hopefully all our products will hit the global markets at the same time when they will be launched in China,” he said.

HONOR 200 Series

Li, who is keen to drive HONOR’s success and expansion across the GCC, said HONOR 200 Series will help attract younger generation who love to play esports with latest technology gadgets and smartphones.

“HONOR 200 Pro, an official smartphone of the Esports World Cup, is a superb smartphone with a unique design, an excellent OLED display, and good battery life with fast charging. Thanks to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, there's no shortage of performance in heavy tasks, including e-gaming,” he said.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com

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