Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, in which Japanese telco Softbank is the largest shareholder, is paying US$590m for a minority stake in local smartphone maker Meizu Technology.
Meizu and Alibaba will collaborate to further integrate the former’s…
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, in which Japanese telco Softbank is the largest shareholder, is paying US$590m for a minority stake in local smartphone maker Meizu Technology.
Meizu and Alibaba will collaborate to further integrate the former’s hardware with the latter’s mobile operating system YunOS, the two companies said in a joint statement.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba will provide Meizu with resources and support, including distribution channels, to help it develop its smartphone ecosystem, according to the statement.
The exact size of the stake to be acquired was not disclosed.
Alibaba chief technology officer Wang Jian said the deal “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”.
Privately-owned Meizu is a minnow in China’s smartphone market, in which fast-growing Xiaomi and the more established Lenovo and Huawei Technologies are the largest players.
Established in 2003 as an MP3 player manufacturer, Zhuhai-based Meizu expanded into the smartphone market in 2008 and claims to have about 600 retail stores.
At the end of 2014, China had more than one billion mobile phone users, about 40% of whom use smartphones, according to IDC data.
