Chinese technology giant Huawei is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its high-end smartphone subsidiary called “Honor.”
Honor makes expensive, high-end smartphones and competes against Apple’s (AAPL) iPhones. The move to have Honor go public is the latest step by Huawei as it tries to challenge Apple’s dominance in the global smartphone market.
Huawei has made clear that it wants to push into the premium tier of the smartphone market and compete head-to-head against both Apple and Samsung, the two global leaders.
Currently, Honor has the biggest market share in China for high-end smartphones but is still a small player worldwide. This fall, the company launched two expensive foldable phones that have been selling well in its domestic market of China.
Huawei said that preparations for an IPO of Honor in 2024 are underway without providing further details.
Separately, Counterpoint Research has reported that worldwide smartphone sales rose in October after declining for more than two years.
After falling for 27 consecutive months on a year-over-year basis, smartphone sales globally increased 5% in October, led by a recovery in emerging markets, said Counterpoint.
