Honor had a bumper 2024 in the South African smartphone market and will likely continue its rapid expansion with the Honor X9C. Fred Zhou, managing director of Honor South Africa, detailed the brand’s remarkable growth and its plans for the future at the local launch. “Last year, Honor achieved more than one million units sold in South Africa, and we had 180% business growth,” he told the audience. “We are still the fastest smartphone brand OEM in South Africa to achieve this kind of growth.”
Honor is not limiting its expansion to smartphones and the brand has introduced tablets and is making significant moves in the IoT space.
“Some media friends asked me, ‘Are you only focusing on handsets?’ I said, no, we will bring all our products into South Africa,” Zhou explained.
Following this strategy, the brand achieved more than 50% market share in Vodacom postpaid tablets.
But the star of the event was the Honor X9C and X7C, the latest addition to the midrange X series.
Almost unbreakable
Durability remains a core feature of the lineup, with the X9C significantly improving on its predecessor.
“The X9B achieved 15 million unit sales globally, and we believe the X9C can surpass that,” Zhou said confidently.
The X9C is an unbreakable AI smartphone. It has a 360-degree drop resistance, surviving falls from two metres on more than 10 different surfaces, including marble.
Additionally, the phone features industry-leading water resistance with an IP65M rating.
“This is the first time an IP rating includes ‘M,’ meaning our tests used flowing water, making it more stringent than standard tests,” he added.
Inevitable AI
Honor is integrating AI into its X series for the first time, with the X9C four of Honor’s AI-driven capabilities.
“One of my favourites is AI Remover, which allows users to remove unwanted objects from photos with just one click,” Zhou said.
Another standout feature is Magic Portal, the brand’s hit and miss intuitive tool for cross app sharing.
“No matter the message or picture, just long press and drag to the side to share immediately,” he explained.
Premium battery technology
While the jury is out on which battery configuration local customers will get for the flagship Magic 7 Pro, but X9C comes with Honor’s silicon carbon advanced battery technology.
The 6600mAh cell earned X9C the top spot on DxOMark for battery life.
“For non-heavy users, one charge lasts three days,” Zhou noted.
Other flagship grade features include a 108MP main camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a first for the X series.
Built for South Africans
Zhou made it clear that the X9C is designed to meet the needs of South African consumers.
“People want a phone that lasts long, that’s why we invested in silicon-carbon battery technology,” he explained.
While the rest of the package is a mixed bag of proven and latest tech, the device competes favourably against Samsung’s A55 at a slightly more expensive R11,000.
As Honor continues its local product expansion, Android customers can expect even more innovative products in the near future.
