Honor is a Chinese consumer electronics brand majority-owned by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd, a state-owned enterprise controlled by the municipal government of Shenzhen. It was formerly a subsidiary of Huawei, who sold the brand in November 2020.[1] Honor develops smartphones, tablet computers, wearables and mobile device softwares.
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 Headquarters in Shenzhen | |
Native name | 荣耀 |
|---|---|
| Company type | State-owned enterprise |
| Industry | Consumer electronics, mobile internet |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Ren Zhengfei |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen, China |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Smartphones, laptops, wearables, accessories |
| Parent | Huawei (2013–2020) Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd. (2020–present) |
| Website | honor |
History
Honor was founded in 2013 as a Huawei sub-brand.[2] Honor's line of smartphones allowed Huawei to compete with mid-range online smartphone brands in China and globally.[3][4][5] Honor primarily sells products online, but some Honor products are also available at stores in selected markets.[6][7]
On 15 May 2019, the US government imposed a ban on Huawei and its subsidiary Honor. In particular, this prevented the availability of rapid security updates and apps such as the Play Store, Google Maps and Gmail on Honor smartphones.[8]
In order to establish independence from Huawei and thus "ensure" Honor's continued existence, the brand and the associated business areas were sold to the company Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd.,[1][9] a newly founded conglomerate of 30 Chinese companies, some of which have close ties to the government.[10][11] The founder and main shareholder of the conglomerate is Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co, a Shenzhen state-controlled company.[1][11][12] On 17 November 2020, Huawei announced that it had sold Honor entirely.[13]
Timeline of international expansion
Honor began to offer its products internationally in 2014,[2] launching the Honor 3C in April in Malaysia,[14] followed by the Honor 6 in Europe in October.[15] By June 2015, the brand was available in 74 countries.[5] In October that year, announced to increase revenue to $5 billion with plans to focus on India.[16][17]
In 2015, Honor's Vmall online store, previously available only in China, launched in Europe and the United Kingdom, enabling direct purchases from the manufacturer.[18][19][20]
Honor made its debut in the United States with the release of the Huawei Honor 5X at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2016.[21][6] Initially available for online purchase only, the Huawei Honor 5X was later made available at select brick and mortar stores.[21] Also this year Honor started to sell the first fitness-trackers.[2]
In August 2016, Recode reported that Honor had sold over 60 million products, generating over $8.4 billion in revenue.[22]
In January 2017 at CES, Honor announced that the Honor 6X, previously available only in China, would be available in thirteen new markets, including the United States.[23][24] The phone earned "best of CES 2017" accolades from several technology publications, including Android Authority,[25][26] Digital Trends,[27] Slash Gear,[28] and Talk Android.[29]
In 2018 Honor started to sell laptops and smartwatches, in 2019 earbuds and TVs.[2]
Since the US sanctions and the brand sale to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology in 2020 Honor has maintained its presence in the Indian market and launched laptops and wearables through e-commerce platforms.[30] The first non-Huawei phone, the V40, was released in January 2021[31] and with the Honor 50 release in December 2021 they provided the first smartphone that supported Google Play Services again.[32] Globally, the brand has decided to focus aggressively on the foldable smartphone, with the intent to provide high-end foldables at affordable prices.[30]
MagicOS
 | |
| Developer | Honor, previously Huawei before the split[1] |
|---|---|
| OS family | Android, Linux, Unix-like |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Free software with proprietary components |
| Initial release | December 2016 |
| Latest release | MagicOS 8.0 / January 2024 |
| Update method | Firmware over-the-air |
| Package manager | HONOR App Market[33] and APK files |
| Platforms | 32 and 64-bit ARM |
| Kernel type | Multi-kernel (with Linux kernel base on Android and microkernel for animations) |
| License | GNU General Public License v3, Apache License 2.0, Proprietary |
| Official website | www.hihonor.com/global/magic-os |
MagicOS[34] (formerly known as Magic UI, and Magic Live UI),[35] is an Android-derived mobile operating system developed by Chinese technology company Honor. It is used on the company's smartphones and tablets.[36]
History
MagicOS was originally developed by Huawei before the split in November 2020, it was rebranded EMUI with minor aesthetic difference for HONOR devices. Before the split, high-end HONOR devices were running on Magic UI while medium to low-end devices continued to run on EMUI.
It has gone through several name changes throughout it introduction, which initially known as Magic Live when it was introduced on the first HONOR Magic phone, and again renamed to Magic UI [37] with the introduction of HONOR Magic 2, which they renamed it again on 2022 to MagicOS.
The latest MagicOS 8 however suffers when using any 3rd party launcher such as Nova Launcher Prime, Microsoft Launcher etc. when using along with the 3-button navigation or the gesture navigation. The "recent apps" when a user could switch between apps, does not work. With the latest Magic6 Pro phone that came with MagicOS 8, this has caused several users to return back the device.
Version history
| Version | Android version history | Year of release | Last stable release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magic Live | Android Marshmallow (6.x) | 2016 | 1.1 |
| Magic UI 2.x | Android Pie (9) | 2018 | 2.1 |
| Magic UI 3.x | Android 10 | 2019 | 3.1 |
| Magic UI 4.x | Android 11 | 2020 | 4.2 |
| Magic UI 5.x | Android 10 and Android 11 | 2021 | 5.1 |
| Magic UI 6.x | Android 12 | 2022 | 6.1 |
| MagicOS 7.x [38] | Android 13 | 2022 | 7.2 |
| MagicOS 8.x [39] | Android 14 | 2024 | 8.0 |
