Remember Meizu, the smartphone brand that was in and out of the Philippines sometime ago? It has a new owner now, and you might be familiar with the company that has the biggest stake in the OEM that was once one of the biggest names in the Chinese mobile market.
A subsidiary of China’s leading automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has become the sole shareholder of Meizu, according to a recent document made public by Chinese regulators. The mobile brand’s former shareholders, including its founder Jack Wong, have all withdrawn their shares from Meizu, giving Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology, a mobile-focused venture founded by Geely founder Li Shifu, controlling stake in the failing brand.
Geely is China’s most successful private-owned carmaker and its bestselling car brand last year. It also owns European luxury brands, including Volvo and Lotus, and has joint ventures with Ford Motor and Mazda.
‘The acquisition is expected to bolster Geely’s connected ecosystem amid increasing pressure on local automakers to build software and services for their smart vehicles’
For those hoping to see Meizu devices in the Philippines again, we’re sorry to burst your bubble: The expectation is that the acquisition will bolster Geely’s connected ecosystem amid increasing pressure on local automakers to build software and services for their smart vehicles. It might not have anything to do with making Meizu relevant on the market once more.
Of course, we’re not closing the doors on that possibility, especially considering Geely’s presence here and around the world. It sure would be nice to see Meizu devices being officially sold in the Philippines again to give consumers more quality choices from the smartphone brand that once pioneered dual-screen handsets like the Meizu Pro 7.
Last year, Xiaomi kicked off its electric-car project with an initial investment of $1.5 billion. The popular smartphone maker expects to spend up to $10 billion over the next decade and has assigned founder and chief executive Lei Jun as the head of its new electric-car division. Huawei is also hoping to make a successful jump to the automotive segment by dominating the market with a fork of its in-house HarmonyOS software for phones and tablets.
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