Huawei Terminal's Internet smartphone brand,
Honor, has taken a U-turn of sorts in India. While it has been rumoured for a while, the company on Wednesday confirmed it would be stepping away from the online-only retail model in India, and also offering smartphones via physical retail partners.
The move will see Honor initially partnering with Sangeetha Mobile, a retail chain that operates stores in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Honor has not detailed if it plans to expand to other retail stores in the near future.The brand will continue to sell products online via exclusive partner Flipkart.
To start with, Honor will sell only the
Honor Holly (
Review |
Images) smartphone via Sangeetha Mobile, at Rs. 7,999. The smartphone would be available with an introductory offer of 20 percent cashback, alongside an offer for customers to get an unspecified Reliance Communications dongle alongside at Re. 1.
Commenting on the new partnership, Allen Wang, President of Consumer Business Group, Huawei India, said, "We are overwhelmed with the response we have received for our Honor smartphones and especially for Honor Holly. To reinforce our commitment towards our customers in India we have decided to introduce Honor Holly in brick-and-mortar retailer shops where customers can get a hands on experience of our smartphone. We are glad to exclusively partner with Sangeetha mobiles as they have a strong market in southern market in India. "
In March, Honor had
said it planned to sell 2 million smartphones in India this year, a 7x growth over last year.