(Yicai) May 30 -- Honor, the smartphone maker that Huawei Technologies spun off four and a half years ago, has initiated preparations for an initial public offering, according to its chief financial officer.

Honor has engaged securities firms, law firms, accounting firms, and other intermediary institutions over IPO preparations, with all arrangements advancing in an orderly manner, Peng Qiu'en said at a media briefing yesterday.

The Shenzhen-based firm's new management team also attended the event yesterday, including Li Jian, the newly appointed chief executive officer, who led its organizational restructuring that was completed earlier this month.

Honor's management shake-up aimed at easing the pressure on the company's Chinese market share and reigniting internal competitiveness, according to Li. It included the re-opening of 38 key positions to all employees and ultimately resulted in the change of 17 of them.

In addition to restructuring middle- and senior-level management, Honor also established new research and development and product departments, including those focused on artificial intelligence operating systems, AI hardware, and AI platforms, Li noted.

"After the new departments assume their responsibilities, they will have formed a highly united collective leadership team," he explained.

Honor's market share shrank over the past year because of competitive pressure from other smartphone brands, a core distributor told Yicai, adding that the new managers need to advance the implementation of market expansion strategies to lead its staff and distributor network in conducting business effectively.

Last year, Honor's mobile phone shipments in the Chinese market fell 3 percent from the previous year, which resulted in its market share dropping to 15 percent from 16 percent, ranking fifth, according to data from market research firm Canalys. In the fourth quarter, Honor's market share was 14 percent, falling out of the top five.

The pressure continued this year. Data from Counterpoint, another market research firm, showed that Honor ranked sixth in the Chinese smartphone shipment market in the first quarter, with a share of 13.7 percent.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione