HONOR Just Took Second Place in the Middle East. Pakistan Buyers Should Pay Attention.

Numbers out of the Gulf this week tell a story that anyone watching local phone shops in Rahim Yar Khan or Lahore will recognise. According to research firm Omdia, HONOR became the second-largest smartphone brand in the Middle East for the first time in the first quarter of 2026, growing 73% year-over-year even as the overall regional market shrank 6% to around 11 million units. Samsung held the top spot at 34% share. HONOR slipped into number two off the back of wider retail availability, more aggressive store presence, and a brand push aimed squarely at the premium mid-range.

That last detail is the one worth sitting with, because it is the exact same play HONOR is running in Pakistan right now.

The accessible-flagship segment is where the fight is

Omdia’s data shows HONOR pulled a 24% share in the US$300 to US$500 price band, close enough to make Samsung uncomfortable. This is not the budget segment and it is not the Rs 350,000 flagship segment. It is the middle, where buyers want flagship-grade screens, big batteries, and decent cameras without paying flagship money. The single device doing the heavy lifting was the HONOR X9d, which crossed 5 million shipments outside China and became a top seller in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

If that model name sounds familiar, it should. The X9d sits on Pakistani shelves at Rs 109,999 for the 12GB/512GB variant, with PriceOye listing it around Rs 102,999 after discount. That puts it almost exactly in the same US$350 to US$400 zone that is winning HONOR market share across the Gulf. The strategy travelling from Riyadh to Rahim Yar Khan is not a coincidence. It is the same phone, the same segment, the same pitch.

What the X9d actually offers a Pakistani buyer

Strip away the regional sales talk and the X9d is a genuinely sensible pick for the local market for a few specific reasons:

• An 8,300mAh battery. In a country where load shedding still dictates daily routines, a battery this size is not a spec-sheet flex. It is the difference between charging once a day and charging twice. This is the feature I would put at the top of the list for most local buyers.
• IP69K durability. The X9d carries a higher water and dust rating than the IP68 you get on phones costing twice as much. For dusty conditions and unpredictable handling, that matters more than another camera megapixel.
• A 6.79-inch AMOLED with 120Hz and very high peak brightness. Readable outdoors in harsh Punjab daylight, which is where a lot of phones quietly fail.
• Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 and 66W charging. A mid-range chip, not a gaming monster, paired with charging fast enough that the huge battery refills in reasonable time.

The honest caveat: the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is a mid-tier processor. If raw performance is your priority, there are better-specced chips at this price from other brands. The X9d’s argument is endurance and durability, not benchmark scores. Buy it for what it is good at.

The PTA and grey-market reality

This is where local advice diverges sharply from the glossy regional report. The Rs 109,999 figure assumes a PTA-approved unit with the standard one-year official warranty. A grey-market X9d imported on passport or smuggled in will look cheaper on paper, but the PTA registration tax on a device in this bracket adds a serious chunk to the real total, and an unregistered phone gets its SIM functionality blocked after the grace window. Factor the PTA cost into your budget before you compare prices, not after. The cheapest sticker is rarely the cheapest phone once registration is settled.

Buy from PriceOye, Daraz official stores, or an authorised HONOR dealer with a genuine PTA-approved set and a real warranty. The installment plans some retailers offer on this model are reasonable, but only on official units.

Where this leaves the local buyer

The Middle East result is not just a press-release trophy. It is evidence that HONOR’s formula, which is big batteries, strong durability, a flagship-feel screen, and a price that undercuts Samsung in the mid-premium band, is converting buyers in markets that look a lot like ours. Pakistan is price-sensitive, battery-obsessed, and increasingly skeptical of paying flagship money for incremental upgrades. HONOR has read that mood correctly.

My position is straightforward: if you want a long-lasting, tough, large-screen phone around the Rs 100,000 mark and you are not chasing peak gaming performance, the X9d earns its place on the shortlist. Just buy it PTA-approved, and price the registration in from the start. The brand’s momentum is real, but your warranty and your network access are what you will actually live with.