- In the first half of 2020, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor will venture in to India’s smart TV market and release competitive products to take on the likes of Xiaomi, Lenovo-Motorola, and TCL.
- The recent move by the government to remove 5% import duty on open-cell LCD (liquid crystal display) television panels, which accounts for 70% of India’s television assembly costs, has also created an opportunity that smartphone manufacturers want to capitalize on.
In the first half of 2020, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor will venture in to India’s smart TV market and release competitive products to take on the likes of Xiaomi, Lenovo-Motorola, and TCL.
Charles Peng, President of Honor India, told that the company will be competitively pricing its goods for the Indian market and releasing a slew of smart devices such as speakers. “We’re working with leading e-commerce players for our TV.” Huawei’s sub-brand Honor unveiled its flagship TV at the ongoing India Mobile Congress 2019, named’ Honor Vision ‘ smart screen, which features a 55-inch 4 K HDR display with a 94 percent screen-to-body ratio.
It is also the first smart screen in the world to bear the self-developed Harmony OS from Huawei.
A number of mainstream smartphone players like OnePlus and Motorola-Lenovo have recently entered the Indian TV market in an attempt to gain a foothold in competition from established brands like Samsung, LG, and Sony Market leader Xiaomi within a few quarters of their entry to the pole position in the digital smart TV category.
Analysts said the smart TV market has higher margins compared to the low single-digit margins provided by smartphones, as several players have priced their devices at or below the cost of manufacturing.

Source- Huawei
The recent move by the government to remove 5% import duty on open-cell LCD (liquid crystal display) television panels, which accounts for 70% of India’s television assembly costs, has also created an opportunity that smartphone manufacturers want to capitalize on.
With all the advancements in technology, people are preferring smart offices, smart homes and Smart TV is one of an integral part of it. The best part of having a smart TV is that it is a solution for all your entertainment needs as it serves as a Television, DVD Player, music player, and running internet-based applications i.e. transforming it into a computer such as streaming videos from Amazon TV, Netflix, Hulu, and Google play store.
With increasing interest and popularity of Smart TVs after Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola, Honor is entering the Smart TV segment with their android-powered Television sets.
The Indian TV market has seen a jump in the Smart TV consumers due to the affordability provided by Xiaomi old TV Sets. The sales have grown to 43% in Q12019 compared to 18% a year ago in India.
With Motorola and OnePlus recently joining Xiaomi in the Smart TV market, It will be interesting to see how Honor challenges these already established brands in the Smart TV segment.