Huawei To Bring Its Honor Brand To The US At CES 2016
It seems that Huawei is finally ready to strike it big and make its formal entry into the US market. At lesat that's what the hints and rumors are saying about the company upcoming big announcement at CES 2016 in just a few weeks. Honor president George Zhao hinted as much, saying that it has something big to reveal about its US plans at the week-long event. What those plans will be are, of course, still a mystery, though there are some whispers that it will start with a certain Honor 5X.
The smartphone is a mid-range device, with a 1080p screen at 5.5 inches abnd powered by a Snapdragon 616. It's interesting if this will really be Huawei's Honor debut device in the US. For one, it might be confused with the LG-made Nexus 5X, especially considering it was Huawei who made the Nexus 6P. Then again, perhaps the potential confusion is intentional.
But perhaps more importantly, it would feel like Huawei wouldn't be putting its best Honor foot forward. The US market already has a large number of mid-range smartphones, a good number of them made right inside the country. Huawei will also be competing with its compatriot ZTE for a piece of that particular pie as well. Or, perhaps Huawei didn't feel strongly enough about butting heads with the big boys in the market, like Samsung and LG.
This certainly Isn't Huawei's first US rodeo. It's actual first notable smartphone was the Ascend Mate2, to be followed by the mid-range P8 Lite just last June. It will, however, be the first formal entry of the Honor brand, so It's a bit of a fresh start, or restart, for Huawei as well.
Those looking into breaking into the US smartphone market will have to contend with the ingrained carrier-based purchasing habits of most US consumers. That has, however, recently been changing and even Huawei has tried to offer equivalent services and benefits to entice buyers into unlocked devices instead. It will be intresting to hear if Honor's strategy will have something similar to be able to compete well in its new major market.
VIA: 9to5Google