On the third anniversary of independence, when Huawei lost its glory, one went left and one went right.

Three Years After Independence Huawei's Struggle and Diverging Paths

[Mobile China] Recently, Honor released the Honor 100 series, successfully updating its numeric naming to a three-digit number. This is not only a reflection of Honor’s history, but also a step forward for the new Honor. While the focus is on the hardware configuration of the Honor 100 series, such as the DSLR-level camera, second-generation Snapdragon 8 flagship chip, and eye protection display, it’s only when users actually start using it that they will discover the unprecedented changes happening in the software services of the Honor 100 series.

Since its independence in 2020, Honor and Huawei have been gradually drifting apart. However, many people still feel there is a delicate connection between the two brands, and the thread that still ties them together is the cloud. Those who have used Honor’s post-independence products may have noticed one issue – when you get a new device, you need to log in with both Honor and Huawei accounts. This process may seem tedious to some, but it is necessary because Honor products are still using Huawei’s cloud services.

With the Honor 100 series, Honor is also starting to cut ties with Huawei in terms of cloud services and is now using its own cloud service. It is from this three-year anniversary product, the Honor 100 series, that Honor and Huawei start going in different directions – one to the left and one to the right. However, the two will still meet at a certain point, like a loop, and that point is the high-end market that has long been fiercely contested.

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In 2023, Honor celebrates its third anniversary. After going through the darkest moments at the bottom of the valley, the third year of Honor’s journey is particularly steady, to the extent that it doesn’t even feel like a new brand that just turned three. Currently, 5G is no longer a trend, but a standard feature for everyone, while AI big models and foldable screens have become the new hotcakes manufacturers are after. By the end of this year, almost all smartphone manufacturers have already entered the big model arena. Huawei has its Pantheon big model, Xiaomi has its self-developed big model, vivo has its AI Blueheart big model, and OPPO has its Andes big model, all flexing their muscles to users. At the Snapdragon 8 Gen3 Summit, Zhao Ming announced that Honor will launch its self-developed 7 billion-end AI big model on the Magic 6 series, though it lagged behind its competitors by half a step in terms of timelines.

Honor’s launch of its own cloud service in the Honor 100 series is paving the way for the arrival of its self-developed big model. According to Honor’s plan, it aims to have a 7 billion big model on the device side and a hundred-billion or even trillion-billion big model on the cloud side. This is what Honor will focus on in the near future. If we see the Magic 6 series as a step for Honor’s device-side AI, then the launch of Honor’s cloud service in the Honor 100 series is paving the way for the launch of its cloud-side big models.

Open the Honor 100 Pro, go to Settings-Account Center, and you will see three very prominent words “Honor Cloud”. Compared to the Magic 5 series released at the beginning of the year, it displays “Data Sync”. In the statement about Honor account and privacy, it is pointed out that in systems versions below MagicOS 8.0, Honor Cloud is referred to as Data Sync. This means that the Honor 100 series now uses Honor Cloud from MagicOS 8.0, and other models will use it after upgrading. At present, MagicOS 8.0 has already started the internal beta recruitment and the upgrade will bring a smoother, safer, and more intelligent experience, which is an important step for Honor to compete at the system level.

Enter Honor Cloud, the official will provide 5GB of free space, and users can choose to synchronize data such as gallery, contacts, notes, calendar, WLAN, and Bluetooth. In terms of fees, 50GB continuous monthly subscription costs 6 yuan, continuous annual subscription costs 58 yuan; 200GB continuous monthly subscription costs 18 yuan, continuous annual subscription costs 198 yuan; 2TB continuous monthly subscription costs 68 yuan, continuous annual subscription costs 698 yuan.

In addition, some of the self-owned apps on the Honor 100 series are also quietly changing. The “Honor Card Package” previously integrated in the settings has become a separate app, and compared to before, it can now add access cards and transportation cards, making it more versatile.

The application market is also a new version, changed from Huawei to Honor, and the overall page layout has not changed much from the old version. It may initially prompt “not available” when downloading certain applications from the application market, but as the follow-up deepens, the number of apps and overall services in Honor’s own application market will become more perfect.

Video apps and music apps have also changed. The previous Huawei Video app has now become a video app created by Honor and Youku. Currently, it does not have multi-platform integration, but it may be possible in the future. The music app, on the other hand, is created by Honor and Netease Cloud Music. It can automatically recognize your Netease Cloud Music account and perform data synchronization. In addition, the theme app and reading app are also different. Users can explore them after getting their hands on the phone.

Moreover, starting from the Honor 100 series, Google Play services are directly integrated into the user and account sections. This has become an important step for Honor’s globalization. When users are on foreign networks, they can download and use foreign apps such as Google through the app market.

Without Huawei, Honor is no longer bound or relying on anyone. During the farewell ceremony for Honor, Ren Zhengfei pointed out that Honor mainly produces mid-range and low-end products. This actually reflects the restrictions imposed on Honor by Huawei. Faced with the high-end market, Honor had the intention but lacked the ability. However, after separating from Huawei, Honor truly became independent. Without the embrace of Huawei, even if facing numerous challenges, it must stand alone. Ren Zhengfei also stated that in the future, Honor aims to become Huawei’s strongest global competitor, surpassing Huawei and even challenging its dominance.

Now, three years have passed and we have witnessed Honor’s remarkable progress. As they say, the bigger the storm, the higher the price. Honor understands this principle well. In the face of the high-end market, which is a blue ocean, Honor chose to reverse the situation through fiercely competitive folding screen technology, making it a strategic highlight. Although Samsung and Huawei had a head start, and domestic brands kept increasing their efforts, Honor went all-in on the folding screen market, releasing five models of folding screen phones, including the Magic V, Magic Vs, Magic V2, V Purse, and Magic Vs 2, within two years. These models cover both inward folding and outward folding forms, and continuously break through the limits of thinness in folding screens. Through a combination of different price points, they have provided consumers with more choices. By 2024, with the launch of the Flip small folding product, Honor’s folding screen forms and price ranges will become even more diverse, indicating that the market competition will enter a more intense stage.

According to the IDC report on the shipment volume of the Chinese smartphone market in the third quarter, the Honor Magic V2 is leading the foldable screen market with strong product performance, becoming the number one foldable screen single product market share of the quarter. In the high-end market above $600, Honor’s market share increased significantly with three new foldable screen products, returning to the top of the Chinese market shipment volume with a share of 19.3%. Moreover, thanks to the boost from the Honor Magic V2 foldable screen, Honor’s high-end Magic series smartphones have achieved a year-on-year growth rate of 107.5% and a sequential growth rate of 20%, with cumulative shipment volume in the first to third quarters this year increasing by nearly 30%. It can be said that on the occasion of its third anniversary, Honor has blossomed in both the foldable screen and high-end markets.

Although Honor is gradually moving away from Huawei, there are still many people who compare the two brands. Although the two currently have some differences in direction, Honor focuses on “foundational core technology” and “engineering technology” with a focus on thinness, eye protection, battery life, and AI innovations, while Huawei focuses on “foundational research and development” of systems and chips. Together, they form a complete picture of China’s technological innovation in the era of globalization.

When Huawei loses Honor, it is difficult to be together, and it is difficult to part. The autumn wind sends coldness, and the apricot leaves turn yellow. When Honor loses Huawei, the sky is filled with blooming flowers, and folding unfolds the world peacefully. On its third anniversary, Honor, facing the might of Apple and Huawei, has always learned and surpassed like a challenger. As Zhao Ming said, without challengers, there would be no successful challengers. Three years ago, some people might have thought Zhao Ming’s words were too grandiose, but today, the distance to challenge success is getting closer for Honor. In the race of a thousand sails, Honor can also become a leader.

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