Geely Chairman-Backed Smartphone Brand Meizu Unveiled “FlymeAuto” Vehicle System
Meizu, a Chinese smartphone brand, announced on October 27 the “FlymeAuto” vehicle system, saying that it is the extension of Meizu’s Flyme smartphone operating system for smart vehicle consoles. Previously, the company released recruitment advertisements in the field of automobile manufacturing, which triggered some discussion.
The company clarified: “It is simpler, more efficient and smarter. We hope to give FlymeAuto a sense of movement and vitality different from traditional vehicle systems. We also hope that it will bring unprecedented smart travel experiences to our users and more smart car users in the near future.”
In July this year, Xingji Technology, a venture set up by Eric Li, Chairman of Chinese automaker Geely, officially announced the acquisition of Meizu, holding a controlling stake of 79.09% and gaining independent control of the smartphone company. At that time, Huang Zhipan, the new CEO of Meizu, issued an internal letter to all employees, saying that there will be better Meizu smartphones and a better Flyme OS in the future. Furthermore, the Flyme OS will serve as “One OS” to connect Xingji Technology and deliver better user experiences with Meizu products.
This acquisition was interpreted by the industry as Geely’s preparation to enter the field of smartphone manufacturing. It is worth mentioning that Geely successfully launched a satellite in June this year. Wang Yong, CEO of Xingji Technology, stated in September that the company would release the world’s first consumer mobile phone directly connected to LEO satellites which attracted a lot of attention from the industry.
However, given the actions taken by Meizu after the acquisition, Geely has not left behind the R&D progress of the automobile field. Meizu applied for the registration of several “Flyme Auto” trademarks in August this year, which are classified as ad sales, scientific instruments and means of transportation internationally, and the trademark status is currently under registration application.
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Moreover, Meizu recently released recruitment advertisements in the field of automobile manufacturing, and required some positions to have 3-5 years of experience in vehicle manufacturing, which was interpreted by some industry insiders as a signal that it had officially entered the field of vehicle manufacturing. However, on October 26, Victor Yang, Geely’s Senior Vice President of Public Relations and Communication, issued a more explicit response in which he wrote that “Meizu will not make cars, but will provide services for car companies.”
On the same day, Wan Zhiqiang, Associate Vice President (AVP) of Meizu, released part of the company’s design proposals for the new Meizu flagship store on social media, saying that the new store was ready to kick off construction, but did not disclose any location information. The design proposal shows that the store has a conspicuously reserved space for exhibition cars, so it is certain that the new Meizu flagship store will also sell vehicles. Moreover, the company’s headquarters has also put up a banner with the words “All in Auto”, which indicates that its future focus will be on the automotive field.
In addition, according to a report by BKEconomy in August, Ziyu Shen, the new chairman of MEIZU and also CEO of ECARX, a smart auto parts supplier, once revealed that two core architectures, Flyme Auto Core and Flyme Auto, are currently preparing within the company. Among them, the latter is based on the Flyme OS and will serve as an in-vehicle operating system integrating some capabilities of ECARX’s products. ECARX was co-founded by Shen Ziyu and Eric Li, who holds 70% of the shares.
