Huawei spinoff Honor announced Tuesday it is entering Indonesia and plans to launch its smartphones there by the end of March. The populous Southeast Asian country has banned Apple's iPhone 16 over domestic production requirements. As of November, Oppo, Xiaomi and Transsion — all China-based — held the top three spots in Indonesia by smartphone shipments, according to Canalys.
Honor has an office in Indonesia and is working with one local manufacturing partner, Justin Li, the Chinese company's president of South Pacific operations, told reporters last week. He said a folding phone will be among Honor's first set of locally sold products — 10 items in the medium to high-end segment. The company aims to offer around 30 products from phones to tablets in Indonesia by the end of the year. The Southeast Asian country is home to the world's largest and fastest-growing economy. Although 80% of the market is dominated by devices priced under $200, as Southeast Asia's largest and fastest-growing economy, Indonesia presents immense potential for long-term growth,' Canalys analyst Chiew Le Xuan said in an email.'Indonesia is emerging as a key market in Southeast Asia, driven by rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class,' Chiew said, noting the country accounts for 35% of smartphone shipments in the region and can serve as a strategic regional hub.Li claimed the decision to enter Indonesia was independent of Apple's presence in the country, and was confident in Honor's ability to compete. He said Honor had observed the Indonesian market for years, before doubling down on expansion efforts in the last half yea