By ZHANG Mingrui
Geely’s founder LI Shufu makes no secret that he wants his company to be more than a cheap car maker and go-to contract manufacturer. Xingji Shidai Technology, a mobile device company he created last year (Geely controls 32.3 percent of it), signed an agreement to acquire 79.09 percent of smartphone maker Meizu. This marks another major step in Geely’s push to go smarter and higher-end, after last year’s launch of its electric car Zeekr.
Li said at the signing ceremony that cars and phones will “no longer stay in their own lanes,” but become parts of a “multi-device, all-encompassing and immersive” ecosystem. Meizu founder HUANG Zhang also said that smartphones and cars will integrate in the future.
The acquisition is the latest of a series of increasingly frequent deals between car makers and the rest of tech. In 2019, FAW, Dongfeng and Changan formed a joint venture with a consortium of tech giants including Tencent and Alibaba that aimed to forge a “ride-sharing platform powered by electric vehicles.” The signees committed 9.7 billion yuan combined.
Last May, Guangzhou Automobile and Didi agreed to build autonomous cars together. Guangzhou Automobile said the deal would turbocharge its autonomous driving initiative by tapping into Didi’s expertise in algorithms and data.
Outside China, a joint venture created by BMW and Mercedes-Benz Mobility has expanded from ride-hailing to other areas of transportation such as car-sharing and vehicle charging.
On the other hand, an increasing number of smartphone makers and internet companies have ventured into cars. Xiaomi, after announcing its car-making endeavor, has created a myriad of companies that specialize in car power systems and autonomous driving. Baidu recently unveiled an autonomous EV prototype ROBO-01. Huawei launched its own car operating system on July 11.
