Turns out the Chinese company that made the first robot to run a half-marathon faster than a human is mainly known for making phones. And it wants to sell these phones in Canada.
Driving the news: Chinese electronics firm Honor is eying an entrance into Canada’s smartphone and tablet market, per The Logic. While it's still in the very early stages, Honor could look to sell its phones through telecoms companies, and even sell industrial products.
Mathew Palmer, a former GM Canada exec helping Honor, said the company was “impressed” by Mark Carney’s Davos speech, generating interest in Canada.
Catch-up: Honor used to be a subsidiary of Huawei but spun off from the company in 2020 to avoid U.S. security-related sanctions. Similar sanctions would later come here — in 2022, Ottawa banned Huawei from using Canada’s 5G network.
Honor is still state-owned as it’s majority controlled by an instrument of Shenzhen’s municipal government, but Palmer said it isn't a "strategic apparatus” for Beijing.
Zoom out: As for the actual phones, they’re apparently pretty good. Its latest midrange models, the 600 and 600 Pro, have received generally glowing reviews from tech outlets. Meanwhile, the brand became the fourth-highest-selling phone in Europe last year.
Why it matters: This is the latest sign that China views Canada as an important consumer market following the new strategic partnership and slashing EV import tariffs. That said, security issues will persist about a deluge of new Chinese tech products.—QH
