Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to invest $590 million for a minority
stake in Chinese smartphone maker Meizu Technology Corporation Ltd., a
company that has been making smartphones longer than better-known rival
Xiaomi Inc., but has sold far fewer handsets.
More recently, however, 12-year-old Meizu seems to be taking the competition to its younger but larger rival, with its high-end MX4 and MX4 Pro handsets, and the more affordable M1 and M1 Note phones. According to a report by GSMArena, citing CEO Jian Wang, Meizu sold 1.5 million handsets in January, a 50 percent jump over December.
Alibaba, which had already signed a strategic partnership
with Meizu in October to foster the use of its own version of Android,
called Aliyun or YunOS, has taken the partnership further with this
investment, which the companies announced Sunday.
The investment is an
attempt by Alibaba to round out the portfolio of
companies it will need to more firmly establish its online
commerce-driven business.
“The investment in Meizu represents a significant expansion
of the Alibaba Group ecosystem and an important step in our overall
mobile strategy as we strive to bring users a wider array of mobile
offerings and experiences,” Jian Wang, chief technology officer of
Alibaba, said in the statement.
Alibaba and Meizu will collaborate to “achieve a deeper
integration of Meizu’s hardware and Alibaba Group’s mobile operating
system (Aliyun),” the companies said, in the statement. In October, the
companies had said they would work together on integrating the design
and visual experience of Meizu’s Flyme operating system -- based on
Android -- with YunOS' security and payment functions.
Alibaba Group will support Meizu with e-commerce, mobile
Internet, a mobile operating system and data analysis, with the aim of
developing Meizu’s smartphone business.
Alibaba's online shopping marketplace will also act as a distribution
channel for Meizu’s smartphones and other devices, according to Sunday’s
statement.
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