Huawei was one of the world's top smartphone manufacturers only a few short years ago, but ever-increasing trade sanctions by the United States took a toll on the company. Huawei sold off its Honor sub-division late last year to save the budget brand from the same sanctions, and according to a recent interview with Honor's CEO, the move seems to be working.

Honor's CEO, George Zhao Ming, told the South China Morning Post that the company is doing well after splitting from Huawei. "When the Honor team left Huawei, we got so many blessings and support from them that we really have very few constraints on our development and opportunities," he said. "We are definitely already prepared for this challenge. Without supply restrictions, Honor has exceptional advantages for capturing the mid-tier and high-end markets in China."

Last week, Honor announced that it had renewed partnerships with key component suppliers, including Qualcomm and Intel. That's something that Huawei has been largely blocked from, though the company could start purchasing 4G-only Qualcomm chips in November. Earlier this month, Huawei announced a new phone using chipsets from Taiwan-based MediaTek.

Honor plans to start selling higher-end phones, and expand into more markets in Europe and Latin America. However, Honor still has to reach a new agreement with Google before it can successfully sell devices outside of China — most people aren't interested in an Android phone without Play Services.

Source: South China Morning Post