(Yicai) Aug. 16 -- Chinese smartphone maker Honor will return to India, a market it exited three years ago, according to Madhav Sheth, a former chief executive officer of Realme India who has now joined the company.

“Honor smartphones will be launched soon in India,” Sheth tweeted yesterday, confirming that he has joined the Shenzhen-based company.

Honor officially withdrew from the Indian market in 2020, a short time after Huawei Technologies sold the then budget brand to a Chinese consortium. Since then the company has relied on Noida-based PSAV Global Tech Private to distribute its products in the country.

“Honor had a team in India a few years ago and operated it for a long time, but later withdrew the team for well-known reasons,” Honor CEO Zhao Ming said in July last year. “Honor will take a very safe approach to doing business in the Indian market” in the future, he added.

Previously, the Indian government asked Chinese mobile phone manufacturers to appoint Indian executives to key roles, including CEO and chief financial officer.

Sheth announced his resignation from Realme on June 15, ending a five-year stint at the Chinese firm. He was Realme India’s CEO from 2018 to 2021 and was later Realme’s vice president and global business leader.

Editor: Peter Thomas