Honor hailed a record-high sales performance for its Honor 20 flagship, with 1 million units sold in China in a fortnight, as it began the rollout of the device in other markets.

The sales performance of the device in international markets will be important to watch: it is the first high-profile model released since parent Huawei had its run-in with the US authorities, which put its relationship with Google (and by extension support for the Android platform) in jeopardy.

Earlier this week, Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei acknowledged sanctions could impact its international smartphone sales to the tune of 40 million to 60 million units this year.

Honor 20 will go on sale in France, Germany, Malaysia and the UK on 21 June; followed by Italy and the Netherlands (24 June), India (25 June); Poland (28 June); and Spain in early July. Other markets will follow.

The company also said its Honor 20 Pro, currently available in China, “attained an astonishing combined sales volume of CNY100 million ($14.5 million) within three seconds of launch” earlier this week. This device, which is a slightly higher-spec version of Honor 20, is set for international availability “soon”.

In a statement, Honor president George Zhao said the company is in “prime position to achieve success with Honor 20 in our overseas markets”, highlighting “steadfast fans who have been tireless in their support for the brand and our innovative products”.