Honor's Diversification Plans Unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2024
Honor is gearing up to venture into new product categories beyond conventional smartphones, marking a significant shift in its offerings. During an exclusive discussion with CNBC at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, George Zhao, the CEO of Honor, disclosed the brand's intentions to introduce a vertical-folding style smartphone, possibly named Honor Magic Flip, alongside a smart ring. This strategic move by Honor signals its intent to compete with established players in the sector, such as Samsung.
Honor Magic V2: A Glimpse into the Future of Flip Phones
The forthcoming flip phone from Honor signifies the brand's entry into the foldable category, particularly the flip foldable style popularized by industry giants like Samsung and Motorola. Zhao expressed confidence in the potential of foldable devices, emphasizing the company's optimistic outlook for the market. While Honor already offers a range of foldable phones like the Honor Magic V2, which features a book-style design and generally comes at a higher price point.
AI Integration: Shaping the Future of User Experience
Central to Honor's strategy is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its devices. Zhao stressed the significance of AI in enhancing user interactions and experiences. By harnessing AI capabilities, Honor aims to predict user preferences and needs, demonstrated through features like predictive actions based on user behavior. At MWC, the company showcased AI-powered functions like eye-tracking technology on the Honor Magic 6 Pro and a chatbot powered by Meta's Llama 2 AI model.
While detailed hardware specifications remain undisclosed, earlier reports hinted at a possible configuration for the vertical folding device, including a dual-cell battery setup with a total capacity of 4,500mAh, potentially making it one of the flip phones with the largest battery capacity.
Smart Rings: Pioneering AI-Driven Health Monitoring
In addition to its smartphone innovations, Honor is diversifying its product range to include smart rings within its wearables segment. Unveiled at MWC 2024, the smart ring offering from Honor follows in the footsteps of Samsung's Galaxy Ring debut. Zhao hinted at a seamless integration between Honor's wearables and smartphones through a health app, envisioning effortless health monitoring enabled by AI technology.
The integration of AI into health-centric devices opens up possibilities for personalized health insights and recommendations. Zhao highlighted AI's transformative role in reshaping health applications, envisioning tailored training programs based on individual health data and habits. Through the smart ring, Honor aims to equip users with actionable insights derived from AI-driven analysis, complementing its existing lineup of wearables and smartphones.
