Honor unveils Magic V2: A foldable phone competing against Apple’s flagships

The absence of a foldable phone in Apple Inc.’s portfolio is creating a gap for rivals to overhaul the iPhone maker, based on Honor Device Co.’s chief govt officer.

The Shenzhen-based agency on Wednesday rolled out its newest foldable system, the Magic V2, which measures lower than 10mm thick. The phone has a daily glass show akin to the iPhone 14 Pro on its exterior and a 7.92-inch foldable OLED display on the within.

The Magic V2 begins at 8,999 yuan ($1,254.5) in China, the identical worth because the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

“The product has just one focused competitor — Apple’s topmost flagship telephones,” Honor CEO George Zhao stated in an interview forward of the revealing. “As sturdy as Apple is, it could’t fulfill all calls for from customers.”

Honor, as soon as a sub-brand of Huawei Technologies Co., spun off from the telecom gear supplier in late 2020 after US sanctions choked off Huawei’s entry to superior chips. As an impartial entity, Honor shouldn’t be topic to the identical curbs, and the Magic V2 is powered by Qualcomm Inc.’s newest Snapdragon 5G chipset.

The world’s main Android phone manufacturers, from Samsung Electronics Co. to Xiaomi Corp., have all launched quite a lot of foldable fashions, leaving Apple the one high vendor with out such an providing.

Foldables took solely a fraction of worldwide smartphone shipments final 12 months, however the potential is rising. Their bigger screens are a promoting level to assist Android producers ask larger costs and improve their usually paper-thin margins. More than 21 million foldable telephones will likely be shipped this 12 months and the class is on observe to greater than double by 2027, analysis agency IDC estimated.

“Similar to the rise of electrical automobiles, foldables have created a brand new enviornment within the smartphone trade,” Zhao stated. Chinese smartphone customers have lengthy prioritized larger specs and bigger shows when making their buy choice. Apple’s iPhone is likely one of the top-selling gadgets within the nation, although the market is aggressive sufficient for the chief in gross sales to alter repeatedly.

Honor was the one main model that grew shipments in Covid-stricken China final 12 months, defying a double-digit hunch that delivered a decade low for the market. Smartphone makers are dealing with an excellent fiercer battle in 2023 because the cooling financial system suppresses demand.

The firm is mulling plans to promote the Magic V2 in abroad markets in addition to in China, and Europe will likely be a key a part of its enlargement this 12 months, stated Zhao.