Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Huawei has announced plans to sell off Honor, its smartphone business focused on mid-range products for younger consumers. Huawei says the decision “has been made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival,” following “tremendous pressure” and “a persistent unavailability of technical elements needed for our mobile phone business.”
Honor products often rely heavily on Huawei’s own technology, so the company has been equally hit by US sanctions preventing Huawei from doing business with American companies. The V30 line of phones, for example, uses the same Kirin 990 processor that powers Huawei’s P40 flagship devices. Under new ownership, Honor should have more flexibility to develop its products, potentially being able to deal…