MANILA - Chinese phone maker Honor is banking on young technology enthusiasts to spread the word on its offerings, which rival top-tier phones' specifications at a lower price, its CEO said.
The company under the Huawei group will launch its flagship Honor 10 at a big event in Manila next week, after making its offerings available on the internet via Shopee last April.
The Honor 10 is clad in a glossy, color-shifting shell, similar to the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, but at nearly half the price, according to online listings. The company has not announced local pricing.
It's the same bang-for-buck tactic employed by the Huawei group's Shenzhen-based rival, OnePlus, which recently launched the sixth iteration of its so-called flagship killer. Oppo and Vivo price their products even lower.
"If it is really a good product, your friends will tell you and other people will give you recommendations," said Honor CEO Wang "Ocean" Yang.
Unlike Huawei, which has standalone stores in shopping malls, Honor sells its phones mostly online. This helps the company keep prices low, Yang said.
"Our ways are more focusing on the e-commerce that is how Honor grows in China market. Definitely now that we came to the Philippines, we will also put our effort on the e-commerce part," he said.
Yang said the time is right for Honor to enter the Philippines, where the youth dominate the 100 million population.
Honor sales trends show that young consumers are drawn to devices that offer music, photography, sports and games suites. Since its launch last April, the reception in the Philippines has been "quite ok," he said.
Some 500 Honor phones sold out within an hour during a flash sale earlier in May, Wang said. These include the 9 Lite and 7X model, both of which got P2,000 price cuts and cost no more than P11,000.
The Honor 10, which will be launched next week, will sport AI-powered rear cameras and Huawei's top of the line Kirin 970 processor.
More phones will be launched in the P5,000 to P26,000 price range, Yang said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
