Honor’s Magic V2 foldable smartphone is as popular as the iPhone in China

BEIJING — Chinese e-commerce site JD.com’s smartphone hot selling rankings this week saw the foldable Honor Magic V2 compete with an apple iPhone models took three first places.

Huawei spinoff Honor launched the Magic V2 on July 12 with a starting price of 8,999 yuan ($1,245).

Sales officially began on Thursday. But a week of pre-sale demand pushed the delivery date for new orders to mid-September, according to an application by JD.com, a commonly used electronics shopping platform in China.

The CNY 9,999 Magic V2 was the second most popular smartphone seller on JD.com as of Thursday morning, with the CNY 7,799 Apple iPhone 14 Pro taking the top spot. iPhone 13 took the third place.

When folded, Honor’s new device becomes almost as thin as the iPhone — 9.9 millimeters versus 7.85 millimeters in the 14 without a case. That means the Magic V2 is about three-eighths of an inch thick when folded.

What’s important is that the foldable phone has managed to balance thinness with “reasonable battery life”. Ethan Tee, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research. “From my point of view, the biggest moments [for the phone] are the industry’s thinnest body (9.9mm) and lightest weight (231g).”

Honor claims that the Magic V2’s battery is only 2.72 millimeters thick and can support around 14 hours of video playback on the phone’s large screen. The iPhone 14 claims 20-30 hours of video playback from a single battery charge, depending on the phone model.

“Magic V2 pre-sales figures in China are positive and show the resilience of the premium segment, which bodes well for the country’s growth in sophisticated device manufacturing,” said Qi.

“The premium segment is not very big, but it is a segment that everyone wants to win.”

Competition is growing.

Samsung plans to launch “thinner and lighter” foldable devices at an event on July 26, according to a blog post. The company is also promoting a live “Join the Flip Side” event in China.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold4 retails for 10,999 yuan on JD.com, while its Galaxy Z Flip3, which opens like a flip phone, is priced at 4,699 yuan.

Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo also sell premium-priced sophisticated devices in China.

Foldable devices are a bright spot in the shrinking global smartphone market.

According to Counterpoint Research, China’s folding machine market more than doubled year-on-year to 1.08 million units in the first quarter.

That helped drive the global foldable smartphone market up 64% year-on-year in the first quarter, Counterpoint said.

In contrast, the global smartphone market fell 14.2% in the first three months of the year, with China down a milder 8%, the data showed.

Honor is also sold internationally, but it’s unclear what specific plans the brand has for the Magic V2.

In China, Honor sells through major e-commerce platforms, including Douyin, the local version of TikTok, which is becoming a growing portal for live streaming sales.

As of Thursday morning, Honor has sold more than 10,000 units of the Magic V2 on Douyin.

Livestreaming has become a growing portal for sales in China. Live streaming sales in the country accounted for about 17.7% of total online retail sales in the first half of the year, or about $180 billion, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday.

Honor also sells its phones on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall and short video app Kuaishou. Both platforms as well as JD support live sales.

The smartphone company used to be the Huawei brand. But following US sanctions on the telecoms giant, Honor was sold to a group of buyers that included the government of Shenzhen, where the company is headquartered.

— CNBC’s Arjun Harpal contributed to this report.