Chinese smartphone brand Honor pulls out its team from India: Report – Times of India

Former Huawei sub-brand Honor has pulled out its team from India, as per a report by China-based newspaper Securities Times. The report is based on the statement Zhao Ming, CEO of Honor, is said to have made during the brand’s smartphone launch event last week. However, the company’s operations in India will continue and will be managed by local partners, says the report. Zhao also reportedly said that the team was asked to leave India for “obvious reasons” and that the brand will now adopt “a very safe approach”.
The Indian government has given major Chinese technology brands like Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi cause to worry about with its recent crackdowns. Vivo’s local offices were raided earlier by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of a probe into alleged money laundering. ED blocked 119 bank accounts linked to Vivo’s India business that were holding 4.65 billion rupees ($58.76 million), as per a report by Reuters. ED reportedly raided 48 locations of Vivo and its 23 related entities in a week and alleged that the sale proceeds of Vivo India were transferred out of India to make a case of revenue loss and so evade taxation.
A few days later, Oppo’s offices were also given a visit by government officials, and Vivo’s sister brand was alleged of custom duty evasion of $550 million, as per a report by South China Morning Post. Xiaomi also came under the government’s radar when $725 million were seized from the company over alleged illegal remittances.
India has also banned hundreds of Chinese apps over concerns of national security, some of the major ones being Bytedance-owned TikTok and the mobile version of Tencent’s PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds.