International Courant
George Zhao, Chief Government Officer of Chinese language shopper electronics model Honor, smiles as he exhibits off the brand new Honor Magic 6 Professional smartphones throughout a presentation on the eve of Cell World Congress (MWC), the telecom business’s largest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 25, 2024.
Pau Barrena | Episode | Getty Pictures
George Zhao, the CEO of Chinese language smartphone firm Honor, has resigned for private causes, the corporate stated Friday.
“The corporate and the Board of Administrators sincerely admire Mr. Zhao’s excellent contributions to the corporate throughout his tenure,” Honor stated in an announcement.
Jian Li, who spent 4 years at Honor in numerous senior administration positions, will succeed Zhao as CEO.
In an inside memo posted by Chinese language media and confirmed as correct by an Honor spokesperson, Zhao stated he was resigning for well being causes and deliberate to relaxation, get well and spend extra time together with his household.
Zhao known as the choice to depart Honor “essentially the most tough determination” he has ever made.
Honor was spun off from Chinese language telecommunications big Huawei in 2020 in an effort to keep away from US sanctions that crippled Huawei’s smartphone enterprise.
Beneath Zhao’s management, Honor has aggressively launched smartphones with a give attention to worldwide markets. Zhao centered on high-end units, together with foldable smartphones, as he appeared for Honor to look past China and problem the likes of Samsung and Apple.
In response to Counterpoint Analysis, Honor’s market share in China elevated from 9.8% in 2020 to over 15% in 2024. Exterior China, Honor’s market share was 2.3% in 2024, in comparison with lower than 1% in 2020.
The corporate has been attempting to maintain up with the competitors by launching synthetic intelligence options on its gadget.
Neil Shah, accomplice at Counterpoint Analysis, stated the corporate’s give attention to high-end units and know-how is prone to proceed underneath the brand new management.
“Honor’s give attention to premiumization ought to proceed if the model is to proceed constructing its model fairness and level of differentiation towards present opponents, particularly in premium markets equivalent to Europe,” Shah informed CNBC.
“The give attention to progressive foldable designs and superior AI options and shut partnerships with main element suppliers could be essential.”
Zhao’s successor Li can be tasked with increasing Honor’s presence overseas amid fierce competitors, with a give attention to making the model extra recognizable.
“Many have no idea Honor” outdoors China, the Shah of Counterpoint stated. “Constructing model fairness is tough and the corporate wants extra time, cash and factors of differentiation.”
