Another major manufacturer is planning a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip rival

There was a recent report that some manufacturers are looking to get out of the folding phone market, after poor sales. But, as well as one publicly saying that isn't the case (at least where it is concerned), we now have another major phone maker revealing it is to expand its foldable handset range.

Honor's CEO George Zhao has said that his company plans to introduce a rival to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 later this year. He also reiterated Honor's positive stance on foldables in general.

"This year we are preparing for the flip phone launch – now that we are internally in the final stage," he told CNBC in an interview during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"We are very positive about foldables for the future."

Honor already has a good track record with folding phones. Its Honor Magic V2 was launched last year to critical success and a new version in partnership with Porsche Design was announced during the show. 

However, it seems flip phones are garnering the most attention from customers thanks to their smaller, more pocketable form factor. Honor clearly wants a slice of that action.

Honor innovations

The manufacturer is also currently investing heavily in other smartphone innovations, including AI. And, during the mobile show also unveiled the Honor Magic 6 Pro with intuitive eye-tracking technology.

This allows users to operate some apps and aspects of the phone simply by looking at them. It demonstrated the capabilities during MWC by allowing T3 to start and move a car using just our eyes.

It'll be interesting therefore to see if there are any tech differentiators on the Honor flip phone as it takes the fight to Samsung and Motorola later in 2024.