AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/21 Report--

Geely's mobile phone company is in contact with phone maker Meizu to discuss acquisitions, according to 36 Krypton. "the deal is still under way and due diligence is being done," said several people close to the deal. " In terms of the purchase price, as the transaction is not yet over, the price is not clear.

In response to this report, Geely Holdings said that it does not comment on the market rumors, the R & D business of high-end mobile phones in the Star era is progressing in an orderly manner, and we hope to build an open and integrated ecological partnership. Meizu responded that thank you for your concern for Meizu Technology.

Judging from the existing news, it is still uncertain whether Geely's mobile phone company will buy Meizu, but it is already a fact that Geely makes mobile phones. In September 2021, Hubei Xingji Times Science and Technology Co., Ltd., founded by Geely Li Shufu, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Wuhan Economic and technological Development Zone, officially announcing its entry into the mobile phone field. It is understood that the project is headquartered in Wuhan Economic and technological Development Zone, positioning high-end smartphones, integrating global technology and resources, and serving the global market.

Li Shufu said: "the mobile phone is a fast iterative portable mobile terminal and the application carrier of electronic product market verification and software innovation. It not only allows users to share the results of innovation as soon as possible, but also can transfer some of the safe and reliable results to the automobile application, and realize the close interaction between the car machine and the mobile phone software technology. In the future, it has become a major trend to build a user ecological chain across the border and build an enterprise moat in accordance with the law. Mobile phones can connect car networking and satellite Internet, create rich consumption scenes, strengthen the ecosystem, and provide users with a more convenient, intelligent, multi-screen interactive life experience of the Internet of everything. "

According to Tianyan, Hubei Xingji Times Science and Technology Co., Ltd. was established on September 26, 2021, with a registered capital of 715 million yuan. Its business scope includes mobile terminal equipment manufacturing, mobile communication equipment sales, etc., and the legal representative is Wang Yong. According to the shareholding structure, Geely Group (Ningbo Co., Ltd.) is the first-generation shareholder of the Star era, with a stake of 32%, while Li Shufu holds 6.1%.

As for Meizu, it used to be a well-known domestic mobile phone manufacturer, but Meizu has been stuck in recent years as competition in the mobile phone market intensifies. The story of Meizu begins in 2003, when Huang Zhang founded Meizu Technology and released the first MP3 product, followed by Music card and MINIplayer series products that became the industry's top seller. In 2007, Meizu realized the transition from MP3 to the smart phone era. At that time, Nokia was still the leader of the domestic mobile phone market, Lei Jun had not yet left Jinshan, the domestic smartphone market was still barren, and Meizu became the first pioneer. In 2008, Meizu began to devote all its energy to the smartphone field, devoting itself to the development of high-end smartphones, and released its first product, Meizu M8, in 2009. It sold 100000 units in two months and exceeded 500m yuan in five months. It was a dazzling achievement at that time.

In 2010, the culmination of Meizu's glorious history, it began to decline, when Huangzhang decided to retire, and Xiaomi was officially born two years later. In the next few years, the domestic smartphone market started a scuffle, but Meizu did not grow further, but the latecomers came first. In 2012, Xiaomi shipped 7.19 million units, while Meizu shipped more than 1 million; in 2013, when Xiaomi set a target of 20 million, Meizu shipped only 2 million phones.

In order to turn the situation around, Meizu launched a new sub-brand Meilan in December 2014, as well as Meizu's first product, Meilan note. However, Huang Zang, who was expected to make a comeback, announced his comeback, and after some organizational restructuring, he directly cut off the Meizu brand, and Meizu's sales in the market further shrunk. According to the domestic mobile phone sales report for the third quarter of 2020 released by market research firm CINNO Research, Meizu mobile phone sales accounted for only 0.3%, with a total size of only about 1 million.

The mobile phone market has changed from the blue sea to the red sea, and the market competition has intensified, so it has to achieve transformation. Affected by a variety of factors in 2020, sales of about 307 million smartphones in the domestic market, down 21% from the same period last year, is the fourth consecutive year of decline in sales in the domestic smartphone market since 2017. According to Xiaomi Group's financial report, total revenue and net profit fell 11.1% and 18.1% respectively in the third quarter of 2021, mainly because Xiaomi mobile phone shipments fell 17% from the previous quarter. Xiaomi shipped 43.9 million smartphones in the quarter, down 2.7 million from the same period a year earlier. 9 million units were sold less than in the previous quarter. In terms of stock price, on the first day of the New year on January 4, 2021, Xiaomi's share price exceeded 35 Hong Kong dollars, with a market capitalization of 880 billion Hong Kong dollars. Today, Xiaomi shares are trading at 18.92 Hong Kong dollars, with a market capitalization of 473 billion Hong Kong dollars. Xiaomi has to find another way out. On March 30, 2021, Xiaomi Group officially announced its entry into the Bureau to build cars. Lei Jun said at the press conference that this was the last time in his life to start a business, and he was willing to bet all his reputation to lead the team to fight for Xiaomi cars himself.

Xiaomi Lei Jun also said bluntly: making cars is not for "publicity". At present, electric cars have changed from the machinery industry to the information industry. Coupled with the fact that some peers are already doing it, Xiaomi will be eliminated if it is not done. In the long run, the current new energy vehicle market is not the mobile phone market a few years ago, the current new energy vehicle market is a blue sea, many enterprises cross-border car to enter this market development, but only a few can live to the end.

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