Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said on Monday that it's transforming its Honor handset brand into an independent smartphone brand that targets China's young mobile Internet users.

The Shenzhen-based company said that the Honor brand will be marketed and operated independently from Huawei, the company's parent brand.

Sales will be mainly made through online channels, the same tactic used by Xiaomi Corp, the maker of affordable smartphones, which has surged in China's smartphone market.