Honor launched the Magic V3 foldable smartphone in the international market as a challenge to Samsung.
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Honor launched the Magic V3, its latest foldable smartphone, in the international market on Thursday as the Chinese tech company mounts a challenge to Samsung in the fast-growing market.
The handset, which has a screen that can be folded like a book, has already been launched in China, but the overseas release highlights Honor’s continued push to expand its market share overseas.
With the Honor Magic V3, Honor talks about how thin the device is compared to its competitors. The company says the phone measures 9.2 millimeters when closed compared to 12.1 millimeters for Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold6.
Honor is also emphasizing artificial intelligence features in its phones, a strategy in line with other device makers who are also trying to convince consumers to shell out more money for expensive upgrades.
The foldable smartphone has a feature called Magic Portal that can now open on multiple screens, according to Honor. This feature allows users to easily drag and drop information into applications. If someone sends you an address, for example, you can directly drag it into Google Maps without copying and pasting. If someone submits an image, users can also drag that image into Google search.
The Magic V3 isn’t Honor’s first foldable phone. Chinese brands continue to pursue these devices as they are part of a rapidly growing market. Global shipments of foldable smartphones are expected to grow 48% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, Counterpoint Research data shows.
Western Europe, Asia Pacific – which excludes India, China and South Korea – and the Latin American region, saw shipments more than double over the same period. This is an area that Honor is targeting.
In Western Europe, Honor surpassed Samsung for the first time to claim the number one spot by market share in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.
Honor said it plans to release the Magic V3 in countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as markets in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Competition in the space continues to rise with Google last month launching its latest foldable phone.
Honor spun off from Chinese telecom giant Huawei in 2020 to avoid US sanctions that hurt Huawei’s smartphone business. Honor has started aggressively launching smartphones with a focus on the international market.
