D-day for Honor.After nine months of absence, the Chinese smartphone brand made its comeback Thursday by presenting three new 5G phones ranging from 900 to 1.500 euros.This launch of almost an hour and a half on YouTube was not trivial.It was indeed the first Honor models since the brand was sold at the end of 2020 by its bulky owner, Huawei, to make it escape American sanctions.

Huawei had created Honor in 2013 to target the entry -level market.First only sold on the internet, Honor smartphones have met with some success in several countries, including in Europe, especially among young people.In early 2019, more than one in three smartphones sold by Huawei was actually marked Honor, according to Canalys.Trump sanctions then derailed the machine.Rather than seeing its brand disappear, for lack of being able to buy enough American chips, Huawei had resolved to sell it to a consortium including around forty agents and distributors including SUNING, the Chinese Darty.

This page is definitely turned, assures Honor, who no longer targets the only low -cost segment.The now independent brand took advantage of the event to position itself as a full -fledged technological champion, multiplying comparisons with Apple and highlighting its 4 research centers, its 5.500 patent requests ... "We were faced with challenges but we must overcome all these difficulties, urges George Zhao, the CEO of Honor.We want to build a global high-tech brand.»»

A billion colors

But above all recalled that unlike Huawei, the brand always had access to the best American technologies.The Magic 3, Magic 3Pro and Magic 3Pro + unveiled Thursday are embarking on the last 5G processor from Qualcomm. « C'est la puce la plus récente dans l'industrie»», rappelle George Zhao.Now Huawei can no longer provide chips with the American.Result, the latest smartphones in the Chinese group unveiled at the end of July only offer 4G, while there are already more than 400 5G models on the market.

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To better accentuate the contrast, Honor had even invited Cristiano Amon, the CEO of Qualcomm, to express himself.Another size difference with Huawei, the Honor smartphones run well under Android, the Google operating system.Which allows him to offer all the applications of the Play Store of the American giant. Pour faire la différence, Honor mise aussi sur la photo, avec cinq capteurs au dos des appareils, la vidéo, et l'écran « le plus incurvé au monde»» qui peut afficher plus d'un milliard de couleurs…

However, the walk remains high for Honor.In China, its market share has certainly gone from 3 % to 14 %. Mais au niveau mondial, le fabricant Xiaomi a profité de son « absence»» pour lui voler la vedette.In the second quarter, its sales almost doubled (+83 %).Xiaomi is now the number one in Europe and number two on the planet's scale, just behind Samsung.