When Huawei was put under trade restrictions by the US, it was no longer able to use Android for its phones – at least not the version offered by Google. Eventually, the company settled on a split strategy – Huawei proper would focus on its in-house HarmonyOS and Kirin chipsets while the Honor sub-brand would be spun off and continue with Android (and it retained access to Qualcomm and MediaTek chips).
It seems like Huawei has been missing having a sub-brand – leakster Dingjiao Digital reported that Huawei will soon launch a sub-brand called Xingmang (星芒). This was later reprinted by CNMO.
Xingmang means “starlight” in Chinese. We’re not sure whether this sub-brand will get a global name – indeed, we don’t know if it will get a global release in the first place. If it does, it might be called something else. For example, “Honor” was named “Glory” in Chinese (at least that’s how machine translation rendered it).
Huawei’s full phone lineup in China
Anyway, Starlight phones will use Kirin 8 series chips, suggesting that these will be mid-rangers. And they will use HarmonyOS as Huawei is still on the entity list and only has access to AOSP but not Google Play Services. These phones will ditch premium features like satellite connectivity. However, they should keep XMAGE, which is the branding for Huawei’s in-house imaging tech (after the company parted ways with Leica).
Interestingly, the Xingmang/Starlight branding may be used for more than phones. Details are pretty scarce at the moment, though. What about Huawei’s current phone lines? After all, Honor was initially the name of a phone launched in 2011 before it became a sub-brand.
Given the rumored choice of chipsets, it’s clear that the flagship Pura and Mate series will remain under the Huawei brand – we wouldn’t expect otherwise. But what about the mid-range nova series? Or the entry-level Enjoy models? We’ll find out soon – Xingmang/Starlight is expected to be introduced later this month.
Thanks for the tip!