![]() | |
![]() Headquarters in Shenzhen | |
Native name | 荣耀 |
---|---|
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 |
Revenue | US$50+ billion[citation needed] (including Huawei) (2018) |
Parent | Huawei (2013–2020) Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd. (2020 –present) |
Website | www |
Honor is a smartphone brand majority owned by a state-owned enterprise controlled by the municipal government of Shenzhen. It was formerly owned by Huawei, which sold the brand in November 2020 to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd.[1] Honor develops smartphones, tablet computers, and wearables.
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]
In November 2020, the Honor brand was sold to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology, a majority state-owned company controlled by the Shenzhen municipal government, to "ensure" its then-parent company, Huawei's survival, due to US sanctions against them.[8][1] U.S. sanctions restricted the sale of hardware components to Huawei by American firms.[9]
Honor began to offer its products internationally in 2014,[2] launching the Honor 3C in April in Malaysia,[10] followed by the Honor 6 in Europe in October.[11] 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.[12][13]
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.[14][15][16]
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.[17][6] Initially available for online purchase only, the Huawei Honor 5X was later made available at select brick and mortar stores.[17] 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.[18]
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.[19][20] The phone earned "best of CES 2017" accolades from several technology publications, including Android Authority,[21][22] Digital Trends,[23] Slash Gear,[24] and Talk Android.[25]
In 2018 Honor started to sell laptops and smartwatches, in 2019 earbuds and TVs.[2]
On 21 January 2021, Honor launched their first non-Huawei phone, the V40, after the dip in production of Honor devices caused by the removal of Google's Android mobile operating system after US sanctions, and a lack of support from Huawei's R&D division.[26]
![]() | |
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 7.1 / October 2022 |
Update method | Firmware over-the-air |
Package manager | HONOR App Market[27] and APK files |
Platforms | 32 and 64-bit ARM, MIPS, x86, x64 |
Kernel type | Monolithic, modified Linux kernel |
License | GNU General Public License v3, Apache License 2.0, Proprietary |
Official website | www.hihonor.com/global/magic-os |
MagicOS [28] (formerly known as Magic UI, and Magic Live UI[29]), is an Android-derived mobile operating system developed by Chinese technology company Honor. It is used on the company's smartphones and tablets.
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 [30] with the introduction of HONOR Magic 2, which they renamed it again on 2022 to MagicOS.
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 [31] | Android 13 | 2023 | 7.1 |