Chris Davies - Jan 22, 2021, 11:45am CST Honor is going it alone, cutting ties with Huawei as it spins out as an independent business, and inking the deals that the US government blocked its former parent company from making. The Chinese phone-maker launched its first device as a standalone company today, the Honor View40, a 5G smartphone with aggressive pricing. Honor was founded eight years ago, as Huawei’s push to grab market share in the more affordable end of the device market. Resolutely targeting younger users, the sub-brand tapped celebrity endorsements like Brooklyn Beckham to help emerge from its parent’s shadow, though also benefited considerably from Huawei’s R&D investments into camera tech and screen design.