Former Huawei smartphone sub-brand Honor showed signs of success as an independent business in its home market of China during the final quarter of 2021, momentum it maintained in the opening weeks of this year, Counterpoint Research reported.

Shipment data for Q4 2021 placed Honor in second place behind Apple with a 17 per cent share compared with the US vendor’s 21 per cent, the first time the Chinese player ranked in the upper-tier of the top-five.

Counterpoint Research data for January showed Honor continued its trajectory, with shipments in the final fortnight of the month 32 per cent higher than the opening two weeks.

The research company noted the vendor’s Q4 2021 shipments were driven by its mid- to high-end devices, and tipped recently-launched models Honor 60 and Magic V to fuel success this year.

Honor’s gains do come in a declining market, though: Counterpoint Research noted overall shipments were down 11 per cent year-on-year in Q4 2021.

Counterpoint Research’s figures relate to shipments into the channel. The company previously issued numbers showing Honor’s sales to end-users grew 50 per cent during Q4 2021.