Geely acquires Chinese smartphone maker Meizu

In January, it was reported that Zhejiang Geely Holding Team (ZGH) was in talks to get Chinese smartphone maker Meizu. Now, that offer has been concluded, with ZGH subsidiary Hubei Xingji Shidai Know-how – a enterprise launched very last September by Geely founder Li Shufu to make premium smartphones and other linked products – inking a offer to invest in a 79.09% stake in Meizu, the South China Early morning Write-up stories.

According to a doc produced by the Condition Administration for Sector Regulation (SAMR) last week, Xingji Shidai acquired its stake from Meizu founder Huang Xiuzhang – whose recent 9.8% stake is down from 49% – and Taobao China Computer software, a device of e-commerce large Alibaba, which marketed its complete 27% stake in the mobile phone maker. The document did not disclose the price of the offer.

Manage of Meizu, an Alibaba Team Keeping-backed smartphone maker, will enable Geely to extend its footprint in mobile units as very well as speed up the enhancement of services linking up automobiles and communication.

Started in 2003, Meizu is a mid-tier smartphone manufacturer located in Zuhai. The business, which began by creating moveable audio players before branching into smartphones, is known as a lesser model of Xiaomi, which is also coming into into electrical auto production. At its peak, Meizu marketed in excess of 20 million of its smartphones, which are recognized for their affordability and features, but profits in latest instances have reportedly dropped to around a million units.

Xinji Shidai has yet to launch any smartphones, but its first product is predicted following calendar year, and this will be given as a gift to consumers of Geely’s new high-conclusion athletics car or truck, Chinese tech media outlet Huxiu indicated.

Geely’s acquisition will come amid competition among the tech corporations and carmakers alike searching to pitch cars and trucks as a different linked gadget. The company is also constructing a network of satellites to present highly specific GPS navigation details to manual autonomous vehicles.