BRIEF: Huawei’s former Honor unit in new fundraising

Honor Device Co. Ltd., the former budget smartphone brand of Huawei Technologies, is conducting a new funding round as its latest step in preparations for an eventual IPO. Investors in the latest funding round include China Telecom, China Capital Investment Group and Costone Capital, financial media Caixin reported, citing sources at Honor.

Honor didn’t reveal the size of the funding or its latest valuation.

Honor said in November last year it was planning to make an IPO and was making necessary preparations. In August this year it said it was reforming its shareholding structure, and the same month it said that leading wireless carrier China Mobile had become one of its investors.

Huawei launched Honor in 2013, positioning it as a lower-end alternative to its higher-end Huawei smartphone brand. Huawei later spun off the brand in late 2020 in response to U.S. sanctions, saying the move was necessary for Honor’s long-term survival. Honor’s buyers at the time were mostly entities affiliated with the city government of Shenzhen, the Southern China boomtown where Huawei is based.

By Doug Young

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