Honor's dilemma can't be solved just by changing the CEO.
Honor's (荣耀) IPO is still waiting!
In June 2025, Honor (荣耀) officially obtained the listing counseling filing from the CSRC, and was originally scheduled to submit the declaration materials this March. Now that May is halfway over, that document still hasn't appeared.
This time difference coincides exactly with the release time of a market data report.
According to IDC data, for the full year of 2025, Honor (荣耀) domestic market share fell to 13.4%, ranking sixth, dropping directly out of the top five, becoming the only brand among mainstream manufacturers to experience a double-digit decline.
On one side is the IPO timeline, on the other is the mobile phone sales leaderboard. When these two charts are placed side by side, Honor (荣耀) must answer the same question: besides being "that brand spun off from Huawei," what else can consumers remember?
In the second quarter of 2022, Honor (荣耀) topped the Chinese mobile phone market with crushing momentum.
From the 3% lifeline when it became independent at the end of 2020, to rebounding to 16.2% in 2021, and then to reaching the top—everyone thought that the crown left by Huawei would naturally fall on Honor's (荣耀) head.
Huawei is gone, Honor is the new Huawei (华为).Almost no one questioned this sentence at the time.
But the market never believes in things going smoothly.
Three years later, Honor (荣耀) fell out of the top five domestically. For the full year of 2025, Huawei returned to the top spot with 46.7 million shipments, while Honor's share was squeezed to around 13.4%.
Looking back, Honor (荣耀) has hardly made any tactical mistakes in the past three years. They acquired the users they should have, captured the market dividends they should have, and every step was the optimal solution at the time.
But the problem lies right here:It is too good at doing the "right thing," but rarely does "what only glory can do."
It has enjoyed three years of emotional dividends, but the root is Huawei's (华为).
The initial success of Honor (荣耀) was the result of the right time, the right place, and the right people, but within "the right people," emotions accounted for the majority.
At the end of 2020, Huawei (华为) was forced to sell Honor. The reaction in the public opinion sphere was not "another mobile phone brand has become independent," but "Huawei's fire has been preserved." This sentiment is very subtle—when consumers buy Honor, they are not buying a spec sheet, but a form of psychological compensation: if they can't support Huawei, then they will support Honor, which split from Huawei.
Plus, at the time Huawei (华为) was sanctioned, and the Mate and P series were cut off from supply, leaving a huge gap in the high-end market. After becoming independent, Honor (荣耀) could use Qualcomm 5G chips and the full Android ecosystem, while Huawei was still using 4G chips. The contrast was just too stark: the same "domestic sentiment," but with better experience and lower prices—who wouldn't buy?
From budget phones to flagships, Honor (荣耀) has a full lineup, capturing users across all levels of Huawei (华为). In the environment of consumption downgrading, "buying Huawei (华为) quality for less money" has become a rational choice.
In 2021, Honor (荣耀) rebounded from a trough of 3% to 16.2%. In the second quarter of 2022, it directly topped the domestic rankings. To put it plainly, this wasn't Honor (荣耀) defeating its opponents; it was Honor (荣耀) filling the gap left by Huawei (华为), along with inheriting that national sentiment.
But those who fill in the blanks have never thought about becoming the ones who set the questions.
Huawei's (华为) shadow stood in for three years, and the real owner is back.
Honor (荣耀) chose the easiest way to live during its best three years.
The Magic series is positioned against Mate, and the digital series is positioned against nova; the appearance, UI, and functions are highly similar.
Walking into a Honor (荣耀) store, it is easy to hear: "Honor (荣耀) has inherited Huawei's technical genes" and "Same quality, more affordable price."
It can be said that after Honor became independent, it almost never actively cut ties with Huawei, but instead intentionally or unintentionally emphasized being "of the same source" and "of the same root." There are even frequent rumors that Honor might carry the HarmonyOS system; it can be said that Honor has fully capitalized on the benefits of this brand halo transfer.
Honor (荣耀) spent three years strengthening the perception of being "from the same source as Huawei," but missed the window of opportunity to define itself.
How important are these three years? From 2021 to 2023, these were the three years when Huawei (华为) was absent, and also the only three years when Honor had the opportunity to "de-Huawei". Once user perception is solidified as a "Huawei substitute", it is almost impossible to reshape it.
Compared to other brands: Huawei (华为) has Kirin and HarmonyOS, Xiaomi has cost-effectiveness and in-house chip development, while vivo and OPPO have imaging. What does Honor (荣耀) have? When consumers think of Honor (荣耀), their first reaction is still "that brand that split off from Huawei (华为)." Many people even still think that Honor (荣耀) is a sub-brand of Huawei (华为).
This is not a product issue, but a strategic slack in brand building.
In August 2023, the Mate 60 series was released, and the Kirin chip made its return. The real protagonist is back, so the narrative space for the substitute has been drastically compressed.
Huawei's (华为) counterattack is full-scale.
At the high end, the Mate and Pura series have regained lost ground, and the Honor Magic series simply can't hold up. In 2025, in the high-end market above $600, Honor (荣耀) only has a 1.58% share, Huawei is at 16.4%, and Apple is at 34%. Honor's flagship phones are on the verge of losing even the qualification to be also-rans.
In the mid-to-low-end segment, the nova series and Enjoy series have lowered prices and increased specs, directly piercing into the heartland of the Honor Number series and X series. Previously, Honor could use 5G chips to compete against Huawei's 4G, but now this advantage has completely disappeared.
Even more deadly is the return of that emotional value. Mate 60 (Mate 60) came back with the domestic Kirin chip (Kirin) and the narrative of "breaking the blockade," instantly igniting the entire public opinion sphere. Consumers discovered that the true "far ahead" has returned.
When Huawei (华为) resolves the issues with chips and systems, and even does a better job in the mid-to-low-end market, the logical foundation of "affordable alternatives" begins to loosen. The focus of the national sentiment narrative also flows back from Honor to Huawei (华为).
In 2024, Honor's domestic shipments fell by about 3% year-on-year, while the overall market was growing. In 2025, Huawei topped the domestic rankings with 46.7 million units, while Honor dropped out of the top five, with its market share squeezed to around 13.4%.The downward curve of Honor (荣耀) and the upward curve of Huawei (华为) are almost perfectly symmetrical.
It's capped at the top by Huawei (华为), locked at the bottom by Xiaomi (小米), and there's an Apple on the side preparing to steal the base.
In 2025, Huawei (华为) topped the domestic rankings with 46.7 million shipments, a year-on-year increase of over 30%.In the past, when Honor (荣耀) fought against Huawei (华为), it relied on "I have 5G and you don't," but now this generation gap has been completely leveled. The pricing of the nova 13 series directly inserts itself into the 2000 to 3000 yuan price range, which is the most lucrative segment. The specs aren't bad, and the brand is stronger. The territory that Honor used to enjoy eating up by relying on its "Huawei (华为) lineage" is now being contested by Huawei (华为) personally stepping into the game, and Honor can't even get a seat at the table. The high-end market goes without saying; in the market above 600 USD, Honor (荣耀) is left with only 1.58%, while Huawei (华为) holds 16.4%.
Xiaomi (小米) has also been forging ahead in recent years.The Redmi K series and Note series have solidified the foundation for price-performance so firmly that when the Honor X series tried to dig downwards, they found there was no soil left. Even more fatal is Xiaomi's push upwards: the Xiaomi 15 series is selling explosively, and the 15 Ultra has gained a firm foothold in the 6000 yuan price segment, directly impacting the potential customer base of the Honor Magic series. The narratives surrounding HyperOS, Leica imaging, and self-developed chips are also very competitive. In 2025, Xiaomi's market share is firmly in fourth place with healthy growth, while Honor is the only mainstream manufacturer experiencing a double-digit decline.
There's also an Apple (苹果) nearby preparing to backdoor.The iPhone 16 series met the national subsidy, and the price was slashed directly into the 4,000 yuan range. In the fourth quarter of 2025, shipments in China reached 16 million units, a year-on-year surge of 21.5%. Those consumers who were originally hesitating over Android flagships realized that by adding a bit more money they could get an iPhone, so they turned around and left. Honor Magic 7 Pro was priced to make a push for the high end, only to find that it wasn't competing with Huawei Mate, but with the discounted iPhone 16 Pro. This move by Apple has taken away the high-end incremental growth that Honor wanted most but never truly secured.
The overall market is a cruel zero-sum game. In 2025, China's mobile phone market shipments are approximately 285 million units, a slight year-on-year increase of less than 2%. If Huawei (华为) sells one more unit, Honor (荣耀) sells one less; if Apple sells one more unit, the Android camp sells one less. Squeezed in the middle, Honor (荣耀) cannot break into the high-end market nor hold its ground in the mid-to-low-end, only to find that it is surrounded by walls on all sides.
A shareholder structure dominated by distributors cannot sustain long-termism.
The independence of Honor (荣耀) is essentially a collective bailout by the distributors.
In November 2020, Huawei sold Honor as a whole, and behind the acquirer stood more than 30 channel partners and distributors. Channel partners naturally pursue rapid turnover and profit maximization; what they care about is "how much can be made from this phone," rather than "how much this brand will be worth in five years."
When a company's major shareholders are distributors, in terms of strategic priorities, "how much to sell this month" can easily overshadow "who to become in five years".
This shareholder structure has caused Honor (荣耀) to be hesitant in investing in the high-end market. Product pricing has to take into account channel rebates, marketing placements need to pursue short-term conversion, and "slow work" like brand building simply can't make it onto the priority list. Compared to Huawei's management-led approach and Xiaomi's founder-led approach, the channel has too much say in Honor's decision-making mechanism.
Distributors won't stick around for five years waiting for a high-end brand to grow up; they want the next quarter's report to look good.
With the departure of the key figure, what is left of Glory (荣耀)?
On January 17, 2025, Zhao Ming resigned as CEO due to health reasons.
Zhao Ming was a witness to the entire journey of Honor (荣耀)'s independence. From taking the helm of Honor (荣耀) in 2015 to leaving in 2025, he completed the most difficult journey from 0 to 1. However, this key figure left at the moment when Honor (荣耀) needed direction the most. His successor, Li Jian, has a deep background in Huawei; he joined Huawei in 2001 and joined the new Honor (荣耀) in 2021. His appointment has raised more doubts in the market about Honor (荣耀)'s "independence"—will Honor (荣耀) go from being a "Huawei substitute" to becoming part of "Huawei's return"?
Zhao Ming said in an internal email: "The company's 4 years of growth requires systematically solving some problems; it is a pity that I can no longer lead everyone through the transformation."The subtext of this statement is very clear: Honor's (荣耀) predicament cannot be solved by simply changing the CEO; it requires a systematic reconstruction from shareholder structure to brand positioning.
But how much patience do the capital markets and channel partners still have to wait for this restructuring?
When the tide goes out, Honor (荣耀) is looking for a new continent.
The ups and downs of Honor (荣耀) over the years are essentially the typical dilemma of a "substitute." It took over the market gap during the window period of sanctions and the emotional shift during Huawei's absence, yet it has never established a sufficiently clear brand moat in its core mobile phone business. When external conditions return to normal, when consumers think of Honor, their memories are still tightly bound to Huawei.
For brands that have risen by "substitution," once the window of opportunity is missed, the difficulty of reshaping increases manifold. Moreover, a shareholder structure dominated by distributors makes it difficult for long-term brand investments to secure the highest priority.
But Honor (荣耀) is not without action.
After Li Jian took office in 2025, Honor (荣耀) proposed a transformation into a "global leading AI terminal ecosystem company," launched the "Alpha Strategy," and released the Robot Phone concept at MWC 2026, attempting to tell a new story in the AI and robotics fields. Overseas markets are also giving Honor (荣耀) breathing room—in 2025, overseas shipments grew by 47% year-on-year, accounting for more than 50% for the first time; in Q1 2026, global shipments bucked the trend with a growth of 24-25%.
These strategic moves indicate that Honor (荣耀) is well aware that its domestic smartphone foundation is under pressure, and is attempting to open up new imaginative spaces using AI, robotics, and globalization. However, no matter how stunning the Robot Phone is, it ultimately comes back to one question: when consumers want to change their phones, can Honor (荣耀) give them a "must-buy" reason?
Zhao Ming didn't have time to answer this question. Whether Li Jian can answer depends on whether he can make Honor (荣耀) truly break free from Huawei's shadow—not by continuing to be a "Huawei substitute," but by making consumers remember an independent Honor (荣耀).