Islamabad, Mar 3, 2025: Chinese smartphone giant Honor has unveiled plans to invest a staggering $10 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) development over the next five years, as it gears up for a public listing, CEO James Li announced on Sunday.
Addressing the audience at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Li highlighted the company’s ambitions to expand beyond smartphones by integrating AI into PCs, tablets, and wearables.
The Shenzhen-based tech firm recently underwent a shareholder restructuring in December, bringing it a step closer to an initial public offering (IPO), though an official timeline for the listing remains undisclosed.
Honor’s announcement aligns with China’s growing wave of AI investments, spurred by increasing interest in cost-efficient large language models, such as those developed by DeepSeek.
Across the country, local governments and major corporations including home appliance manufacturers are accelerating AI research and adoption to keep pace with global advancements.
The company, which was spun off from Huawei in 2020, has faced stiff competition in the Chinese smartphone market. According to International Data Corporation (IDC) reports.
Honor’s market ranking fell from second to fourth place last year, securing a 14.9% market share. The decline was attributed to Huawei’s resurgence and Vivo’s rapid expansion, intensifying competition in the highly dynamic smartphone industry.
With this multi-billion-dollar AI push, Honor aims to redefine its technological footprint and position itself as a key player in the AI-powered device ecosystem.
