Honor announced the Magic V2 foldable phone on July 12, 2023, first in the Chinese market.
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BEIJING — On Chinese e-commerce site JD.com’s list of the “hottest” smartphones this week, the Honor Magic V2 foldable phone and apple iPhone models occupy the top three spots.
Huawei spin-off Honor launched the Magic V2 on July 12, starting at 8,999 yuan ($1,245).
Sales officially begin on Thursday. But a week of pre-sale demand has pushed the delivery of new orders to mid-September, according to data from the JD.com app, a common platform for buying electronics in China.
As of Thursday morning, the 9,999 yuan Magic V2 ranked second in smartphone sales on JD.com, while the 7,799 yuan Apple iPhone 14 Pro ranked first. The iPhone 13 ranks third.
Honor’s new device folds almost as thin as an iPhone — 9.9mm, while 14 by 7.85mm, no case. That means the Magic V2 is about three-eighths of an inch thick when folded.
Importantly, the foldable phone balances thinness with “reasonable battery life.” Ethan Qi, Associate Director of Counterpoint Research. “In my opinion, the biggest highlight (of this phone) is the industry’s thinnest body (9.9mm) and the lowest weight (231g).”
Honor claims the Magic V2’s battery is only 2.72mm thick and can support about 14 hours of video viewing on the phone’s large unfolded screen. The iPhone 14 claims around 20-30 hours of video viewing on a single charge, depending on the candy bar model.
“The pre-sale data of Magic V2 in China is a positive indicator showing the resilience of the high-end market, which bodes well for the growth of foldable devices in China,” Qi said.
“The high-end market isn’t huge, but it’s the one everyone wants to win. “
The competition is getting fiercer.
Samsung will unveil a ‘thinner and lighter’ foldable phone at its July 26 event, According to a blog post tease. The company is also promoting the “Join the Flip Side” launch live event in China.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is priced at 10,999 yuan on JD.com, while the Galaxy Z Flip3, which opens like a flip phone, is priced at 4,699 yuan.
Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo are also selling foldable phones at premium prices in China.
Growth from smartphone downturn
Foldable phones are a bright spot in the shrinking global smartphone market.
In the first quarter, China’s foldable phone market more than doubled year-on-year to 1.08 million units, according to Counterpoint Research.
This helped boost the global foldable smartphone market, which grew 64% year-over-year in the first quarter, Counterpoint said.
By comparison, the global smartphone market fell 14.2 percent in the first three months of the year, with an 8 percent drop in China, the data showed.
In China, Honor is selling on major e-commerce platforms, including Douyin (the local version of TikTok), which is becoming a growing live-streaming sales portal.
As of Thursday morning, the Honor Magic V2 had sold more than 10,000 units on Douyin.
Live streaming has become a growing sales portal in China. In the first half of this year, livestreaming sales in China accounted for about 17.7 percent of total online retail sales, or about $180 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
Honor also sells its phones on Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform and the Kuaishou short video app. Both platforms, as well as JD.com, support live-streaming sales.
The smartphone company was previously a brand owned by Huawei. But after the United States imposed sanctions on the telecom giant, Honor was sold to a group of buyers, including the government of Shenzhen, where the company is headquartered.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
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