Founder of China car giant Geely completes acquisition of phone maker Meizu, touts synergy between consumer electronics, EVs

Eric Li Shufu, Geely’s founder and chairman, said during a signing ceremony that the acquisition will help deliver an ‘all-scenario, immersive experience’

Xingji Shidai, the Li-founded company that acquired Meizu, offered no details on new devices

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Published: 7:00pm, 4 Jul 2022

The founder and chairman of Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group pointed to synergy between consumer electronics and smart vehicles as justification for the acquisition of smartphone maker Meizu at a ceremony completing the acquisition on Monday.

Eric Li Shufu said he envisions consumer electronics and smart vehicles developing in synergy to provide people with an all-encompassing experience.

“Next-generation cars and smartphones will not be parallel,” Li said at the signing ceremony in Hangzhou. “We will see that the merging of technologies of consumer electronics and vehicle manufacturing is inevitable.”

On June 13, Xingji Shidai Technology, which Li founded, announced it would purchase a 79.09 per cent stake in Alibaba Group Holding-backed Meizu, which was founded nearly 20 years ago as one of China’s fast-follower cadre of phone makers. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Geely founder and chairman Eric Li Shufu envisions “great synergy effects” between the phone maker and the car-making business. Photo: Shutterstock

While smartphone makers, including Huawei and Xiaomi, are venturing into the electric-vehicle market, the acquisition in effect makes Geely the first established carmaker to commit to the smartphone market – a sector that is highly competitive and is no longer growing in China. But by taking over a smartphone brand that has been losing relevance in recent years, Geely gets access to technology and expertise that could help it compete in a market that is increasingly focused on software and services.

“We aim to offer our common users a multiple-terminal, all-scenario, immersive experience,” Li said. “Stepping into the phone-making sector, we can achieve great synergy effects with our car-making business.”