Honor announced the departure of its Indian-based workforce. The brand will continue to exist in the market, but local partners will represent it instead of the company's hands-on staff, according to George Zhao, CEO of the company.
The announcement comes as Indian authorities are looking into a number of Chinese firms, including Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo.
According to George Zhao, the company's market presence will take a "very conservative approach." A local team had been assembled after a lot of work, but for "evident reasons," it will be disbanded, he added. The announcement was announced just as Honor's Magic4 flagship series made a big impression and the number series midrangers began gaining popularity internationally.
Given that there have been no formal investigations into Honor, the company's choice to withdraw is highly rare. Other Chinese businesses, meanwhile, were being investigated by the Indian tax authority and finance ministry, but they never made any comparable announcements. Huawei's offices were raided in February, Xiaomi's $725 million was confiscated in May, and vivo's bank accounts were stopped when it was discovered that the company had funnelled over $8 billion to parent firms in order to avoid paying taxes. Oppo was the most recent company to be found avoiding customs with over $551 million in purported unpaid fees.
