Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. News

Honor gets its due for innovations as fastest-growing brand ahead of Apple & Samsung

Omdia data shows the smartphone maker posted 11% YoY growth, outperforming competitors.

Add as a preferred source on Google
Main display on the Honor Magic V5 in Ivory White (world's thinnest folding phone)
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trendsve Gondhia / Digital Trends

Honor emerged as one of the stronger performers in 2025, posting record growth, according to a new research report. Data from Omdia’s latest analysis shows the brand’s shipments grew 11% year-over-year, outperforming competitors like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo.

The report notes that global smartphone shipments grew by 2% overall, with Apple leading the market, posting 7% year-over-year growth and capturing 19% market share. Samsung followed closely with similar growth and market share figures, while Xiaomi placed third with a 13% market share despite a 2% decline in shipments.

Although Honor was not among the top 5 vendors, trailing slightly behind Vivo, Oppo, and Transsion in terms of market share, it stood out for its growth performance. Omdia attributes this momentum primarily to Honor’s rapid geographical expansion amid intense competition in its core markets.

Honor’s 2025 lineup reflected a sharper focus on innovation

Honor also launched several notable devices last year that likely supported its upward trajectory. Its flagship foldable, the Honor Magic V5, earned praise for its ultra-thin design, outstanding screens, and top-tier camera hardware. This one solved a few crucial pain points for foldable phones, especially with hinge durability, ingress protection, and even display brightness output. The company also revised its software support commitment to match Google’s, promising 7 years of updates for Honor Magic 7 Pro and newer models.

Recommended Videos

Late last year, Honor unveiled the Honor Win, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagship with a massive 10,000mAh battery. The company appears to be continuing this momentum in 2026, with recent reports suggesting it’s now gearing up to showcase its next-gen flagship foldable, the Honor Magic V6, at MWC early next month. The Honor Robot Phone, which was first teased at CES earlier this year, will also be unveiled during the trade show.

Pranob Mehrotra
Pranob is a seasoned tech journalist with over eight years of experience covering consumer technology. His work has been…
The dream of uber cheap phones for kids and grandparents is effectively dead, thanks to AI
AI's demand for memory chips has made budget smartphones unprofitable to build.
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

That $100 phone you were going to grab for your kid's first device, or hand down to grandma, could become a dream in a while. AI's hunger for memory chips just made the entire budget phone category borderline impossible to build.

So how bad are we actually talking?

Read more
Apple’s new Upgrade program launches on Tuesday with major changes
Apple's new leasing program might drop AppleCare coverage from the bundle.
iPhone 17 Pro Max

Buying your next Apple device could soon look like leasing a car. Apple is launching its new Apple Upgrade program on Tuesday, July 28, replacing new enrollments in the long-running iPhone Upgrade Program with a lease-based option that covers iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches.

Backed by Klarna, the program is designed to lower the upfront cost of Apple's premium devices, but it is also raising questions about whether you'll actually own what you're paying for.

Read more
Setting up your dorm desk? These are the phone stands I’d actually spend my money on
From a $2 folding stand to a three-in-one Apple charging dock, these are the phone stands worth setting up this semester.
Analog Clock, Clock, Electronics

A phone stand is one of the smallest purchases on any back-to-school list, but it's also one of the easiest to get wrong, especially since there are dozens of options available on Amazon. A good phone stand is one that does its job well and, more importantly, doesn't put much of a dent in your budget.

This is one of those product categories where you don’t need to spend big, unless a MagSafe dock or a multi-device charging stand is genuinely useful for your desk or dorm setup. That is why this list begins with the most affordable options and works its way up to the more expensive ones. From a two-pack that costs about as much as a coffee to a three-in-one Apple charging station, I picked eight of Amazon's best-reviewed phone stands worth considering this back-to-school season.

Read more