Honor Huawei’s sub-brand was recently sold to a consortium of 30 manufacturers and retailers. Effectively, this freed the company from US sanctions imposed on Huawei. As a result, Honor has now signed partnerships with major chip makers, such as Intel and Qualcomm, to deploy their products in upcoming devices.
Earlier today, Honor unveiled its first smartphone after splitting from Huawei. The new Honor V40 5G features a MediaTek chip, which confirms that the company has signed a partnership with the Taiwanese chipmaker. Together with MediaTek, Honor has signed contracts with AMD, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Sony, according to a recent report from Reuters.
During the Honor V40 5G launch event, the company’s president, George Zhao, said “The last five months have been a very difficult but meaningful time for Honor. We feel the pressure of expectations from business partners and customers. ” Zhao reiterated that Honor will be focusing on diversifying its portfolio in the coming months, with new phones in the mid-range and core regions. The company will also expand into the IoT space, he said.
Zhao also revealed that about 8,000 Honor employees have moved out of Huawei’s offices following the recent split. The company now operates from a new headquarters in Shenzhen. About 50% of the company’s employees are invested in R&D, which indicates that we may soon see innovative tools from Honor.
In case you missed our coverage of the Honor V40 5G, the latest device from the company features MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+ chipset. It packs a 6.72-inch curved OLED FHD + display with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, a triple camera position on the back with a 50MP main shooter, and a 16MP selfie camera over the front. The device is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that supports 66W wireless charging and a fast 50W wireless charge. It is worth noting that the device still runs Magic UI, which is based on Huawei’s EMUI.