After the separation, independence, glory of the new flagship, satellite communications can become famous
The Honor 200 series has attracted much attention as a new generation of flagship product lines launched by Honor after its independence. The series will feature a 1.5K resolution ultra-high frequency PWM dimming centered dual-hole curved screen, powered by a Snapdragon 8 series sub-flagship processor, support for 100W wired fast charging, and equipped with a small telephoto lens. It is expected to be officially released in mid-to-late May, targeting the offline female market.
Honor was originally a sub-brand of Huawei, focusing on the online and low-end markets. Affected by U.S. sanctions, Huawei was banned from using Google mobile services, which brought serious obstacles to the development of Honor. In order to ensure the continued operation of the business, in November 2020, Honor was spun off and sold by Huawei to become an independent company.
After the divestiture, Honor is no longer subject to U.S. sanctions and can freely use Android and Google mobile services. But at the same time, it also means that it is "disconnected" from Huawei in terms of technology. Honor can no longer directly use Huawei's core technologies such as chips and cameras, and must independently develop or seek suppliers.
Honor was not completely cut off from Huawei at the beginning of its independence. The configuration of the Honor 200 series still continues some of Huawei's technical routes, such as the use of a runway-type elliptical rear camera module design similar to the Huawei Nova series, as well as a deep and micro curved screen with four sides. These design elements help attract the favor of Huawei's old users and win a certain transition period for Honor.
The Honor 200 series is expected to be one of the first phones to support satellite communications. Originally developed by Huawei, this technology aims to enable mobile phones to use satellites to perform basic communication functions such as voice and SMS even when they cannot connect to terrestrial communication networks.
Since Honor has become independent, its satellite communication technology is not directly inherited from Huawei, but a new generation of technology developed by Honor itself. This means that Honor's satellite communications and Huawei's technical routes will be different, and the future development direction may also be differentiated.
The Honor 200 series will be positioned in the offline women's market, which is a choice that has both challenges and opportunities. In recent years, the domestic mobile phone market has entered the era of stock, and the incremental space is limited. In contrast, the female user group has become a blue ocean market to be reclaimed due to its neglect in the past.
From the perspective of user needs, female users have higher aesthetic requirements for mobile phones, and pay more attention to appearance design and photo effects. The Honor 200 series adopts a stylish and atmospheric curved screen design and adds a small telephoto lens, which just meets this need. Female users also have high expectations for navigation and charging speed, and the Honor 200 series has a large battery + 100-watt fast charging combination, which can well meet this demand.
There are also some risks associated with targeting the female market alone. On the one hand, this may make Honor products too "sophisticated" and lose their appeal to male users; On the other hand, the purchasing power of female users is often not as strong as that of male users, and profit margins are limited. Honor needs to strike a balance in product positioning and avoid being too extreme.
Honor is also facing fierce competition from other mobile phone manufacturers in the domestic mobile phone market. As an emerging force, it must make breakthroughs in product power and brand influence in order to get a share of the already saturated market.
The biggest competitors are Xiaomi and OPPO/vivo. These companies occupy a dominant position in the domestic mobile phone market, with a complete product line and extremely cost-effective. If Honor wants to gain market share in the hands of these old powerhouses, it may encounter a lot of resistance in the short term.
Some experts also believe that some innovative configurations of the Honor 200 series, such as satellite communication technology, 100-watt fast charging, etc., give it hope of winning in the competition.
Satellite communication is considered to be the next outlet in the field of mobile phone communication. Although it can only implement basic functions such as voice and SMS at present, it is expected to expand to more application scenarios in the future and become a powerful supplement to 5G communication. Once this technology matures and is widely used, it will greatly improve the emergency rescue capabilities of mobile phones, and will also bring a new business model and user experience.
As one of the pioneers of this technology, if Honor can make a breakthrough in satellite communications, it will gain a first-mover advantage and occupy a favorable position in the mobile phone market. This requires Honor to do its homework on chips, antennas and other hardware, and cooperate with operators, governments and other parties to establish a complete satellite communication network.
The 100-watt fast charging technology is also a highlight of the Honor 200 series. At present, the fast charging power of mainstream mobile phones is generally around 60-80W, and the Honor 200 series directly increases the power to 100W, which can further shorten the charging time and bring a better user experience.
The impact of 100-watt fast charging on battery life and heat generation still needs to be further evaluated. If Honor can effectively optimize in this regard, it will further enhance the competitiveness of its products.