Honor Magic V Leaked: Will Be Launched in The Global Market

Under the trend of folding screen mobile phones, whether it is Honor Magic V, OPPO Find N, Vivo X Fold, Xiaomi MIX Fold, Motorola Blade or Huawei Mate X, P50 treasure box, and other models, All of them have shown a flourishing state of blooming, which also demonstrates the determination of domestic manufacturers to bet on folding screen mobile phones.

However, in contrast to the domestic market, the competition in the overseas folding screen mobile phone market is not as fierce as imagined, and it can be said that Samsung is the only one. In Europe, only Samsung and Huawei have launched true folding screen devices. Among these products, it can be said that only Samsung models are worth considering; after all, due to U.S. sanctions, Huawei phones are not favored by overseas users.

Now, Honor says it will release its second foldable phone next year, and unlike the Honor Magic V, it will also sell high-end phones outside of China to challenge Apple and Samsung on the global stage. According to Counterpoint Research, international high-end mobile phone shipments in Q2 increased by 94% year-on-year, mainly led by Apple and Samsung.

Zhao Ming confirmed the plan in an interview ahead of IFA 2022 in Berlin, saying the company expects to launch its next foldable phone in the first quarter of next year.

“We have decided that in the first quarter of next year, we will launch the latest folding screen mobile phone to the international market, including Europe.” He said that the main selling point of the new Honor phone is that it is thinner, lighter, and more affordable.

Honor has launched several high-end models since Huawei became independent. It has also brought its flagship Magic 4 and Honor 70 series phones to international markets. Honor has also decided to focus on the smartphone market outside of China and the more expensive premium segment. This will put Honor in competition with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.

“As the global economy deteriorates in 2022 and the premium segment remains strong, both Samsung and Apple have benefited so far this year,” said James Manning-Smith, senior analyst at CCS Insight.

“One of the biggest challenges for Honor this year will be how to capitalize on this trend and win the market from established premium brands, especially in a year when tight budgets will lead consumers to seek to avoid potential risks.”

When the reporter asked Zhao Ming why Honor and other brands of folding screen products prioritize the Chinese market, he said, “A large part of popular applications in China are optimized for folding devices. This is because China has a unique Android application market, Dominated by domestic apps like WeChat; there is even a special version of Tiktok. This situation makes it easier for developers to work with them and optimize their apps for the new form factor.

“We have a good relationship with app developers in China,” Zhao Ming explained, a relationship that means developers are willing to work with Honor to optimize their apps on foldable phones. Whereas in the rest of the world, users mostly need to download apps from Google Play, in China, users can find these apps through several app stores for the market.

But with Google’s recent efforts to improve the Android experience on larger-screen devices, Zhao believes the international market is catching up.

Zhao Ming pointed out that the first is that Google recently released Android 12L, a new version of the mobile operating system optimized for tablet and folding screen devices and that developers are also working on optimizing their applications for large screens. It is developing with third parties partners to improve the experience of using apps like TikTok, Zoom, and Facebook. “Google has made a lot of efforts in this direction.”

It is said that Honor does not plan to sell its folding screen products in the United States. While the company started entering the U.S. market five years ago, for now, it has opted to focus its limited resources on regions such as Europe, where it already has operations and more experience.

Honor released the Magic4 series of mobile phones, starting at 3,999 yuan. Among them, the Honor Magic4 Standard Edition is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 processor, a built-in 4800mAh battery, and supports 66W wired fast charging.

On January 10 this year, Honor released the Honor Magic V folding screen mobile phone, equipped with a 7.9-inch OLED folding screen, built-in 4750mAh battery, supports 66W wired super-fast charging, and starts at 9999 yuan.

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