Last week Honor showcased its first new device ever since Huawei confirmed that the mobile brand would no longer fall under its umbrella.

That new device is named the V40 and while it looks a lot like the budget-friendly flagship phones that Honor made previously, what makes the device interesting to us is the fact that it is exempt from the same scrutiny and lack of Google support had Huawei still been in the picture.

It now means that Honor, which is and remains an ecommerce-driven brand, will need to deal with vendors more directly in order to secure the necessary components and technology to build its devices moving forward.

On that front, it seems like the ball is very much rolling, as Honor has confirmed that it has secured partnerships with a number if important US technology vendors, along with a few others outside its Chinese borders.

According to Nikkei Asia, the company will be working with AMD, Intel, MediaTek, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, SK Hynix and Sony moving forward, which seems to tick every box when it comes to getting elements of a smartphone together, while it is still unclear which vendor is handling what for Honor.

Regardless, it is therefore shaping up to be an exciting new chapter for the brand.

“It has been very tough in the past five months,” Honor CEO Zhao Ming noted in a press release sent to Nikkei Asia. “But the blessings and encouragement from consumers and the industry gave us courage. Honor will confidently, bravely face everything, and the new Honor that is independent will keep its glory of the past and continue to innovate,” he added.

With a number of Chinese brands climbing up the mobile shipment ranks in recent years, perhaps Honor will be one to keep tabs on, alongside the likes of Oppo, Xiaomi and OnePlus.

“Although we are using the similar chipsets to our rivals, our engineering team has implemented many of our own technologies to offer better performance on the same set of chips,” Zhao explained.

What this could potentially mean for South African consumers moving forward, though, remains to be seen. Honor has been launched and relaunched in the country over the past few years, with limited success. Now that it is independent from Huawei, is a third time the charm?

It may be an option, especially if Honor were not hamstrung by a lack of access to Google services in the same way that Huawei is. Either way it will be an interesting year for the company.