Chinese smartphone maker Honor has begun preparations for an initial public offering, three years after it was spun off as an independent business from Huawei Technologies.

The Shenzhen-based firm will adjust the composition of its board to meet diversity standards for a publicly listed company, it said in a statement on Wednesday, without specifying a timeline or bourse for its public debut. Honor is majority-owned by the local Shenzhen government and counts display maker BOE Technology Group among its backers.

A large proportion of Honor’s employees made the move from Huawei in 2020, when the brand — formerly focused on the younger segment of the consumer market — was spun off. The move allowed Honor to escape the trade sanctions that Washington imposed on Huawei, with the smaller company continuing to do business with key chip maker Qualcomm and retaining access to Google’s Android software and app ecosystem.

In the years since, Honor has risen to compete with the top-selling domestic brands like Xiaomi, and it led the China market in the third quarter with a 19.3% share, according to IDC data. The company increased overseas sales significantly this year and will be looking to sustain momentum as both the Chinese and global smartphone markets begin to rally from a prolonged slump.

Read: China’s Honor takes direct aim at Apple

China had an 11% jump in smartphone sales in October, according to Counterpoint Research, which was driven in part by the return of Huawei to prominence with new devices powered by its own made-in-China chip. — (c) 2023 Reuters