Chinese automaker Geely wants to make smartphones as well
Looking to acquire smartphone maker Meizu

While smartphone makers across the globe are eying the electric vehicle market, an automaker in China is looking to do it the other way around. Automotive company Geely which owns vehicle brands Volvo, Lotus, Proton, Polestar and more is reportedly looking to acquire smartphone maker Meizu.
A Chinese publication 36krypton reports that representatives of both the companies have met to discuss the acquisition and “the transaction is still in process.”
GSMArena reports that Geely has already created a subsidiary called Xingji Times that will focus on the smartphone business. The company has reportedly invested $10bn in the new venture and has started poaching senior executives from other smartphone makers like Xiaomi, ZTE, Oppo etc.
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The chairman of Geely Holding Group Li Shufu feels that the smartphone is the centre of innovation and lets users experience the technology as soon as it is reliance. He wants to replicate the same experience in the automobile segment as well.
It is reported that the company had been looking to get into the smartphone business for quite some time and Xiaomi’s announcement of getting into electric vehicles gave it the required impetus.
Imapct on Meizu
While Geely is expected to retain the R&D process in-house, it is most likely to go via the contract manufacturer route to get its phones manufactured. The company may end up collaborating with Foxconn for the same reason. The Chinese report also says that Xingji Times has already filed multiple smartphone-related patents in recent times.
Meizu on the other hand has been struggling over the last few years. Though the company has been known for making competitive devices with top-end hardware specifications, clean and bloat-free Android skin, however, it has not been able to sell in massive numbers.
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The company was once present in various international markets including India, however, its market size has continuously shrunk over the last few years – hence getting acquired by Geely will make total sense for the smartphone brand.
As of now, we can only wait to hear more about this development. However, we do hope that post the acquisition Meizu, doesn't remain as a China-only smartphone brand.
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Jitendra has been working in the Internet Industry for the last 7 years now and has written about a wide range of topics including gadgets, smartphones, reviews, games, software, apps, deep tech, AI, and consumer electronics.