In 2022, Honor made its debut at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA), one of Europe’s largest tech showcases. At the time, Honor was still a fresh face in the European market, with a modest booth that simply displayed all its products.
George Zhao, CEO of Honor, couldn’t attend the event in person due to the pandemic. So, for the Magic4 Pro launch, he recorded a video. Based in China at that time, he had to film the video remotely and launch the product in a pretty humble setting.
Fast forward to September 2024, and Honor’s third appearance at IFA was a whole new ballgame. Its booth, measuring 50–60 square meters, was packed with visitors of all backgrounds.
For Honor, IFA 2024 holds special significance. According to an Honor-commissioned research report by Counterpoint, in the second quarter of 2024, Honor overtook Samsung in the foldable phone segment to claim the most market share in western Europe. The report highlighted that, in the first half of 2024, sales of book-type foldable phones in Europe surged 133%, with 70% of that growth driven by Honor.
Honor’s strong performance in Europe signals its initial breakthrough in the high-end foldable phone market. Compared to the first half of 2023, Honor’s sales skyrocketed around 22-fold in the first half of 2024. The flagship Magic series was the primary engine behind this growth.
Launched in July 2023, the Magic V2 was the first inward-folding phone to bring thickness down to unparalleled levels—at a time when most foldable phones closed at over 11 millimeters, the Magic V2 managed to slim down to just 9.9 mm.
In 2023, Zhao publicly stated that Honor’s high-end strategy would be the key to cracking the European market. At IFA 2024, “light” and “thin” were the buzzwords that caught the attention of European users.
The latest iteration, the Magic V3, which premiered in Europe, further reduced the thickness to an astonishing 9.2 mm and weighed just 226 grams, making it the lightest, thinnest large foldable phone on the market. Of course, as Honor’s flagship product, the V3 came with a premium price tag: EUR 1,999 (USD 2,200).
When asked about competing with legacy brands like Samsung, Sheng Jingjing, a product manager at Honor’s Beijing research center, told 36Kr that “the feel in your hand” is a critical selling point in Europe, where customers value in-store experiences.
Beyond its sleek design, the Magic V3’s external screen is enhanced with Honor’s nanocrystalline technology, reinforcing it with over 4,000 layers of silicon nitride. This is said to boost the phone’s drop and scratch resistance by tenfold. “There’s no need for a screen protector with this phone,” Sheng said. At the IFA booth, German professional table tennis player Timo Boll even used the Magic V3 to play a round of table tennis.
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While the Magic V3’s lightness and durability define its outward appeal, artificial intelligence is at the core of Honor’s strategy for the high-end market.
According to Canalys data cited by 36Kr, global AI smartphone sales hit around 35 million units in Q2 2024, accounting for roughly 12% of all phones. At Apple’s June 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it introduced Apple Intelligence, a platform that embeds an AI agent into phones to swiftly respond to personalized user needs.
Apple had a clear head start—in Q2 2024, it claimed 51% of the AI phone market.
However, Zhao told 36Kr that Honor has been working on both platform-level and on-device AI strategies since it went independent in 2021. Unlike Apple’s closed iOS ecosystem, Honor’s advantage lies in its willingness to integrate a wider range of third-party AI services.
At IFA, Honor announced that it plans to incorporate what it said is the industry’s first cross-application, open-ecosystem AI agent into the upcoming Magic7.
This AI agent, when embedded in the phone, acts like a smarter app manager, allowing users to execute tasks through voice commands. For instance, it can cancel subscriptions across apps like WeChat and Alipay, order drinks online, or plan and book flights—all with a single command.
At IFA, Honor also launched its first AI-powered PC, the MagicBook Art 14, built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Lite platform.
The Snapdragon X Lite functions like a brain designed specifically for on-device AI—delivering high performance with low power consumption, and its ARM architecture tackles the traditional battery life challenges faced by on-device AI.
In addition to standard functions like document summarization, the Art 14 includes a built-in deepfake detection tool. This technology, first released in June 2024, can alert users to fraud in video calls within 2–3 seconds of detection.
The following excerpts are from Zhao’s IFA speech and have been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
Honor and Apple share a similar AI strategy
Since Honor became independent in 2021, we’ve stuck to a clear path: building both platform-level and on-device AI. We’ve consistently pushed forward with this strategy, and now we’re using it to move the entire industry ahead. When Apple rolled out its AI strategy in June, and we saw how it aligned with Honor’s four-layer AI architecture, it reinforced our confidence that we’re on the right path.
When Apple made their announcement, I thought to myself, Apple’s still got it. They have brought smartphone AI back in line. Now that we’re in sync, it’s time to see who can innovate faster and provide better services built around AI.
Honor has no choice but to stay open
Given the landscape Honor operates in, we can’t afford to be closed off. China’s internet and AI ecosystem is driven by a vast range of services from different providers. That’s why our Yoyo AI agent has always been designed differently from Apple’s approach. Apple can rely on its own apps, integrating them seamlessly, but from day one, Honor has been about openness—about integrating with the massive array of internet-based AI services.
Take our AI agent, for example. It’s built to help users cancel subscriptions across platforms like WeChat and Alipay, working within apps and across them. The complexity behind it is staggering—it’s far more intricate and advanced than Apple’s solution.
Moving forward, we’ll focus on developing on-device AI that understands users deeply, capable of handling complex tasks at their command.
Expectations exist for the iPhone 16, but less so for its hardware
AI innovation, particularly on-device AI, is still in its infancy. With Apple now in the game, we expect resources and future AI services to start pooling around this space. This is the competition we’re excited about.
As for the iPhone 16, I have some expectations—but honestly, not so much when it comes to hardware.
The advantages of ARM architecture
Honor’s foray into Snapdragon-based ARM PCs is largely driven by the future of cross-device collaboration. ARM architecture’s computing power and energy efficiency align perfectly with what mobile phones and tablets need.
On top of that, thanks to better heat dissipation, laptops running on ARM outperform phones and tablets in raw computing power. From a comprehensive solution standpoint, we’ll be leveraging Magic OS and AI-enabled MagicRing to unify devices into a seamless system. From this angle, ARM’s advantages are substantial.
It’s easy to see why Honor is developing ARM-based laptops.
And with AI-enabled MagicRing and cross-platform, cross-OS solutions aiming to merge Windows and Android, the potential here is massive.
Optimizing the ARM PC experience
When we started working on ARM PCs, the entire ecosystem was our focus. In Europe and overseas, over 90% of native apps run without a hitch. In China, we systematically analyzed the top 100 apps to pinpoint which ones might affect the user experience. We took a two-pronged approach:
- First, Honor invested in R&D to optimize conversion efficiency.
- Second, we’ve partnered with Qualcomm, Microsoft, and the top 100 PC app providers in China to transition their programs to the ARM platform. This work is ongoing on both fronts.
Looking ahead, we recognize that ARM architecture’s software development and system capabilities will challenge some laptop manufacturers. While laptops tend to handle more office productivity data, they can’t compete with the sheer volume of personal data smartphones manage.
That’s why we’re exploring collaborations with laptop manufacturers to enable stronger AI interactions between laptops and phones. It’ll require breaking down the barriers between these devices, and MagicRing will be key in making that happen.
Two years ago, when we launched MagicRing, we talked about how the system would open up in the future. In this AI era, we’re pushing that even further—figuring out how to extend this capability to laptop manufacturers and platforms. The cross-device, cross-OS AI collaboration we’ve announced—Apple doesn’t have that yet, at least not right now. We’ve been thinking about these capabilities since the early days of MagicOS.
Magic V3-like foldable phones would have spurred the market
If foldable phones five years ago were anything like Honor’s Magic V3 today, I believe the market would have exploded back then. But five years ago, when the industry started making them, they weighed over 300 grams, and the thickness of two bar phones combined was about 14–15 mm, while foldable phones at the time were 17–18 mm. So, people’s impressions of foldable phones were formed in that era—they were heavy, thick, and fragile. With each iteration, those impressions evolved.
The smartphone market feels a bit monotonous now. If you’ve got a bar phone that can unfold into something entirely new, European consumers are bound to give it a try.
Honor is open to third-party collaborations
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC), we teamed up with Meta to release a large language model overseas. Going forward, we’ll continue working with Meta, Microsoft, Google, and other internet and AI partners. Honor remains open to collaborating with any third-party AI providers.
Conversion outweighs market share in importance
What excites me more is unlocking a larger market for foldable phones. For example, in Hong Kong, where the Magic V3 has been on sale for just over a week, it’s already grabbed more than 50% of the market. In Europe, the phone will undoubtedly sell well, and we expect strong sales.
But what matters more is how we influence and convert Apple and other bar phone users to try foldable phones. That’s why Honor’s decision to launch the Magic V3 at IFA and take on bar phones directly was crucial. The next step is getting those users to take notice, try the Magic V3, and ultimately choose it. That’s the real competition, and it has only just begun.
AI OS is designed to meet personalized needs
At Honor, a few years ago, our strategy—whether it was Android or iOS—focused on ecosystems and how they solved development efficiency problems.
But in the AI era, the key is personalization. It’s about how the operating system serves the individual. Every time you use the OS, you’re feeding it training data. It learns your habits and intentions, and optimizes itself accordingly.
Over time, your phone gets better at predicting your behavior. Whether it’s MagicOS 9.0 or 10.0, the system becomes more tailored to you. That’s what we’ve always emphasized—a personalized operating system.
Apple just introduced the idea of a personalized OS in June this year. But two years ago, when we defined MagicOS, we had already positioned it as a personalized, all-scenario OS. Apple might have borrowed our idea, but no one’s standing up for us.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Zhou Xinyu for 36Kr.