(Yicai) Aug. 5 -- Honor will begin a shareholder reform next quarter and start the initial public offering process at an appropriate time, The Paper reported today, citing the Chinese mobile phone maker, which was responding to a media report that it will go public by early next year.

Reuters reported earlier today that Honor, spun off by telecoms giant Huawei Technology at the end of 2020, will likely list in the Chinese mainland at the end of this year or the start of 2024. 

“The Chinese smartphone maker is receiving an unusually high level of support from local government backers,” The Paper said.

Honor has not received “an unusually high level of support” from the Shenzhen government since Jan. 1, 2021, the company said, adding that it adheres to the principles of openness and transparency and will unveil its financial data during the IPO process.

Shenzhen-based Honor ranked third in China’s smartphone market in the second quarter with shipments of 10.7 million units, behind Vivo Communication Technology and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications, according to market researcher Canalys.

Honor was set up by Huawei in 2013 as a budget smartphone series, but was sold in November 2020 after its parent company was put on the US government’s so-called entity list, which prevented American firms from selling their chips to Huawei.

Editor: Kim Taylor