JUST three months after quietly slipping into South Africa, smartphone brand Honor has almost doubled its brand awareness and is poised for a mainstream launch with the backing of major cellular networks in April.
That’s according to Honor’s South African CEO Raymond Liu, speaking exclusively to KZN Industrial & Business News at the launch of a co-branded Huawei and Honor service store at the Cornubia Mall in north Durban recently.
Honor, a youth-oriented sub-brand of global tech heavyweight Huawei, is still a relative unknown in South Africa, although it’s a big name in Asian markets, Europe and, increasingly, in the US after embarking on an aggressive international expansion drive in 2014.
Now, after a ‘soft launch’ of its Honor 8X smartphone in Foschini Group stores in November, the brand hopes to make itself a household name in South Africa, following the same success blueprint as Huawei has employed over the past three years.
Huawei is now the second largest smartphone brand both globally and in South Africa.
“Thanks to the success of our big brother and the Honor brand in markets similar to South Africa, we’re extremely bullish about our prospects here,” Liu said, adding that the company’s research had shown that its brand recognition had already grown from seven percent to 13 percent in the three months since launch.
The company was eyeing an April date for a mainstream launch of the brand which would include the introduction of several new devices to the South African market. “We’re currently in negotiations with at least one leading cellular network,” Liu said.
He was confident that the opening of the Durban store would provide a further boost to the brand’s rollout plans.
All Honor users will be offered repairs and a range of other services at the new store in Cornubia Mall as well as the three other Huawei Service stores in Melrose Arch in Johannesburg and Canal Walk and Somerset, in Cape Town.
Liu said after-sale service was a key component to keeping customers happy. “I’m thrilled that Honor consumers can feel comfortable and at ease when purchasing Honor devices knowing that all their service needs are accessible and conveniently catered for at the Huawei Service Centres.”
Repairs will range from software and hardware faults, to screen replacements and other device issues.
Additionally, customers have the option of browsing while waiting and can use the devices in the store, as well as browse the accessory wall or use the devices in the games arena.
Huawei dedicated staff will also be able to offer assistance to customers like setting up their email and social media accounts and familiarising them with functions and features of their devices.
Other services include photo printing on selected device covers, software upgrades while you wait, as well as accessory and device sales.