Honor was the headliner at MWC 2023 in Barcelona, where the company unveiled the Magic5 and Magic5 Pro and announced the global expansion of Magic Vs. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with Honor’s CEO, George Zhao, to discuss future plans for the company.
George Zhao
Discussing the Honor Magic5 Pro and Honor Magic Vs, Zhao confirmed that both will get 3 years of Android upgrades and 5 years of security patches. Even more exciting, he said Magic Vs will hit store shelves around the world during the next quarter, ultimately giving the Galaxy Fold lineup a competitive edge.
The executive said his team feels Europe is their second home and that his company is treating 2023 as its first year here. We are considering, but prefer to stick with carriers and retail partners until we build an even stronger portfolio.
However, it now has R&D and product centers operating specifically in Europe to help grow the brand.
Not so great news for the US market, though. George Zhao confirmed Honor’s step-by-step approach. The US market is difficult to penetrate, so we need more time to prepare.
We spent some time talking about the new Honor Magic5 Pro flagship (shown here in Glacier Blue).
Honor Magic Vs is one of the lightest foldable devices with a vertical hinge. This is what Honor wanted when they started development. Zhao believes future foldable devices will be a mix of tablets and smartphones, and after addressing the weight issue, it will also offer thinner devices and better battery life. I said I would work on it.
Zhao predicts that sales of flip phones will explode if they can slash enough weight, even a few millimeters lighter, but he’s completely stuck with the bar phone. I don’t think it will replace it. Instead, I expect them to coexist in the long run, as different users have different priorities. Likewise, he believes there’s enough demand for both clamshell and horizontal folding that both form factors will be around for some time.
