Handset vendors expanding international sales

Chinese smartphone vendors are ratcheting up resources to expand their presence overseas, despite external challenges, as they bet on the international market as key to building up their global brand cachet.

Honor Device Co Ltd, for example, recently kicked off a strategic global rollout of its Honor 400 Series of smartphones, launching simultaneously in over 10 markets including Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany.

Its international debut marks a pivotal shift in the brand's global strategy, generating enthusiastic market reception worldwide.

Notably, this launch represents the first time Honor has chosen overseas markets for the global premiere of its midrange 400 Series of smartphones — a deliberate move underscoring the company's intensified focus on offshore expansion.

The push follows a breakthrough year for Honor's global business. In 2024 the brand achieved 50 percent year-on-year growth in international markets, with overseas sales surpassing domestic sales for the first time in December, accounting for over 50 percent of total sales volume, Honor said.

The global smartphone market grew 3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to preliminary results from Counterpoint Research. Growth in China driven by government subsidies, along with continued recovery in key emerging markets including Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, offset declines in developed markets, Counterpoint said.

Francisco Jeronimo, vice-president of client devices at market research firm International Data Corp, said: "Faced with heightened geopolitical uncertainty and the looming threat of substantial US tariff hikes on goods imported from China, vendors strategically accelerated production schedules and pulled forward significant shipment volumes, particularly into the critical US market, during the first quarter of 2025. This supply-side surge, aimed at mitigating potential cost increases and disruptions, effectively inflated first-quarter shipment figures beyond levels anticipated based on underlying consumer demand trends alone."

Despite the growing external headwinds, Chinese handset makers are still working hard to target opportunities in developing countries. Meizu, the smartphone brand of Dreamsmart Group, is also rapidly advancing its global strategy to deliver cutting-edge, artificial intelligence-powered devices to users worldwide.

Zeng Yang, vice-president of Meizu, said in an interview with China Daily that while initially focusing on the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, the company is also expanding swiftly into Central Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

"Our mission is to empower global Meizu fans with premium yet affordable technology," Zeng said.

She said the company started its global strategy in 2024, and it managed to rapidly grow its overseas sales, which accounted for over 20 percent of total revenue within just three months.

"We hope that overseas sales can reach 50 percent in the near future," Zeng said, adding that the company is leveraging a dual-channel strategy. It primarily relies on direct-to-consumer online sales, which minimizes costs to ensure "ultimate price-performance ratios".

Meanwhile, Meizu is also working with localized distribution networks through regional partners for rapid market entry, Zeng said.

"We will continue building our global team and expanding sales channels to deliver richer, smarter products to users in nearly 30 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, enabling more consumers to experience our integrated AI ecosystem."

At its overseas product launch event in May, Meizu unveiled a string of smartphones, and StarV View augmented reality glasses. Priced from $79 to $399, these products will first be available in countries such as Russia, Spain, Malaysia and Vietnam, expanding to more than 30 markets later.

Since implementing its "All in AI" strategy in early 2024, Dreamsmart Group has built the Flyme AIOS platform integrating AI smartphones, smart glasses and wearables, intelligent vehicle systems and user-centric cloud services.