Geely completes its acquisition of former Chinese smartphone heavyweight Meizu
Geely had allegedly taken an interest in the flagging mobile device OEM Meizu a few months ago. Now, those rumors are vindicated as a merger of the 2 companies is now reportedly underway. It is not clear what the e-car giant wants out of this deal exactly, although it is possible the ownership of a phone brand could help with the development of new infotainment UIs in the future.
On the other hand, Geely has in fact made its new acquisition through its subsidiary Hubei Xingji Shidai Technology, which is apparently intended to get into the high-end smartphone game.
This is an area in which Meizu has a solid background, releasing devices with top-end Qualcomm platforms (and, occasionally, atypically innovative designs) up until 2021 with an abrupt absence of a successor to the flagship 18 line.
In fact, Meizu used to lead the Chinese smartphone market at one point, and once aspired to Xiaomi-like status by slapping its name on more diverse products such as electric toothbrushes; however, its share has reportedly dwindled to under 1% in 2022.
Therefore, the OEM might hope for a route back to good fortune as part of Xingji Shidai, which now reportedly owns a 79.09% share of Meizu for an as-yet undisclosed sum.
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