Huawei Is Quietly Rebuilding the Honor It Lost Called "Starlight" - Memeburn

TL;DR

- A "Xingmang" trademark covering phones, watches, glasses, and chips sits in China's records.

- Reports say the brand would target value-focused mid-range buyers with Kirin 8-series chips.

- A rival name, "Xingyao," surfaced in late September with a possible November launch.

- Huawei hasn't confirmed either and tells fans to "refer to official information."

- Xiaomi's China shipments fell 21.7% last quarter, leaving the mid-range up for grabs.

A Huawei trademark called “Xingmang” started trending on Chinese social media on October 11, and it’s fueling talk that Huawei is about to launch its first new phone sub-brand since it sold Honor in 2020. Why it matters: Huawei is now China’s top phone maker, but it wins mostly with expensive phones, and the cheaper end of the market is wide open as rivals raise prices. Here’s what we actually know, what’s still guesswork, and why we think the timing makes sense.

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What Is Huawei’s Rumored Sub-Brand?

A sub-brand is a separate label a phone maker uses to sell cheaper or more specialized phones without diluting its main name. Xiaomi has Redmi, vivo has iQOO, and OPPO has OnePlus and realme. Huawei used to have Honor, until US sanctions forced it to sell Honor in November 2020.

The current rumor centers on two possible names:

The Class 9 filing matters most. Class 9 is the trademark category for electronics, and this one covers smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, smart glasses, headphones, and chips. That’s a full product family, not a single phone.

Reports also describe the brand as mid-range and value-focused, roughly the price band Honor used to cover, running Huawei’s own HarmonyOS on Kirin 8-series chips and skipping premium extras like satellite messaging.

Xingmang or Xingyao? Why the Name Keeps Changing

Here’s where we’d slow down. In late September, the rumored name was Xingyao, with a launch “as early as November.” Two weeks later, Xingmang took over the conversation. An unnamed tipster also posted a cryptic “Hello, Star Shine” message and claimed Huawei has phones, other gadgets and a possible “big hit” coming before the year ends.

Two names in two weeks is a warning sign, not a confirmation. Big tech companies file trademarks constantly, often years before they use them, sometimes never. Huawei applied for Xingmang back in 2019, and the Xingyao name first popped up in rumors in early 2024 before going quiet.

When fans asked directly, Huawei said only: “Please refer to official information.” That isn’t a denial. In our experience, Chinese phone makers usually stay silent like this until a launch event is locked in, then confirm it through a quick run of teasers on Weibo, China’s X-like social network.

Some kind of new Huawei label is likely, and the name is the least settled part of the story.

Why Huawei Wants a Second Brand Now

The timing lines up with three big shifts in China’s phone market.

- Huawei is winning at the top, not the middle. Huawei shipped 22.6% of China’s phones in Q2 2026, up 19.4% from last year, more than any other brand. But that growth leans on premium models like the Mate and Pura lines. Even the “cheapest” new flagship, the $895 Huawei Mate 90, sits far above what most Chinese buyers spend.

- Rivals are retreating from value. Memory chips have become much more expensive this year, and most Android brands raised prices or cut specs from late March. Xiaomi’s China shipments fell 21.7%, and OPPO, vivo and Honor all shrank by around 10%. Huawei and Apple were the only two that held prices steady.

- A cheaper brand protects Huawei’s prices. Huawei raised the Mate 90 Pro Max’s 16GB price by about $299 (CNY 2,000) this year, around 25%. Selling budget phones under the Huawei logo would make that harder to justify. A separate label lets Huawei chase price-sensitive buyers, especially younger shoppers who buy online, without making its flagships look cheap.

From our perspective, the third point is the real reason. Honor was never just about volume. It let Huawei sell value phones while keeping the Huawei name premium, and Huawei has spent five years trying to fill that gap with its Nova and Enjoy lines.

What About Nova?

The Nova line is Huawei’s current mid-range series, popular with younger buyers for its selfie cameras and design. The September reports said Nova itself could be split off into an independent sub-brand, rather than Huawei launching something from scratch.

That would be the lower-risk option. Nova already has name recognition, retail shelf space and a fan base. A brand-new name like Xingmang would need marketing from zero, but it would also carry none of the “Huawei” baggage, which could matter if the company ever wants to sell these phones outside China.

Both paths could even happen at once: Nova moving up as a style-focused line, and a new label taking the true budget slot. We don’t have evidence for that yet, but it would mirror how Xiaomi runs Redmi and POCO side by side.

Can Huawei Make Enough Chips?

This is the question nobody has answered. A value brand only works at scale, meaning millions of phones at thin margins. Huawei designs its own Kirin chips, but US export limits restrict its access to advanced chipmaking equipment, and its flagships already use most of the attention.

Kirin 8-series chips are Huawei’s mid-tier designs, so they’re less demanding to produce than the Kirin 9050 Pro in the Mate 90 Pro Max. Still, a brand built to undercut Redmi and iQOO would need a steady supply at low cost, and Huawei has never had to prove it can do both at once under sanctions.

There’s also a strange twist. If Xingmang launches, one of its most direct rivals would be Honor, the brand Huawei built. Honor still holds 11.3% of China’s market and is already lining up three new phones aimed at Xiaomi and Huawei before the year ends.

What It Could Mean and What We’re Watching Next

If you live in China, a new Huawei value brand would likely mean more HarmonyOS phones at Redmi-like prices, plus more pressure on rivals to hold their own prices. That’s good news in a year when phones are getting more expensive.

If you live elsewhere, don’t expect much soon. Huawei’s phones still ship without Google apps outside China, and none of the reports mention a global launch. Honor’s international success came only after it split from Huawei and regained Google services.

- November: the most-cited launch window for the new brand.

- Phone certifications: Chinese phones usually appear in government listings from MIIT and TENAA, China’s telecom regulators, weeks before launch. That’s often the first hard proof.

- Nova 16 lineup changes: any rebranding of Nova would show up here first.

- The trademark decision: Xingmang’s 2019 application is still “awaiting substantive examination,” the stage where officials check whether a name can be registered.

FAQs

Why did Huawei sell Honor in 2020?

US sanctions cut Huawei off from key chips and Google services, which threatened Honor’s phone sales too. Huawei sold Honor in November 2020 to a group backed by Shenzhen’s local government and Honor’s dealers, so Honor could buy parts freely again. Honor later regained access to Google apps.

What are the cheapest Huawei phones right now?

Huawei’s Enjoy series covers its lowest prices in China, while Nova sits in the mid-range. Outside China, options are limited by the lack of Google apps, which is why most budget shoppers end up comparing cheap phones from Xiaomi, Samsung, Honor, and Motorola instead.

Do Huawei phones work outside China?

Yes, on networks and calls. But they ship without Google Play, so you can’t officially install Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, or many banking apps. Huawei’s AppGallery has alternatives for some apps, but the gap is still the main reason most buyers outside China skip Huawei.

What is HarmonyOS?

HarmonyOS is Huawei’s own operating system, built after US sanctions blocked Google services. The latest versions no longer run Android apps at all, so developers have to build native HarmonyOS versions. China’s biggest apps, like WeChat and Alipay, already have.

Which phones launch in China later this year?

Honor, Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO all have flagships and mid-rangers lined up through November. Our roundup of October 2026’s biggest phone launches covers which ones are worth waiting for.