In the current business environment, a mobile phone manufacturer seems to be lagging behind if it does not get involved in the automotive manufacturing sector. Meizu Technology's recent announcement that it has accelerated its manufacturing progress, especially after receiving support from Geely, has advanced to the testing stage of the B prototype, which shows that the progress is almost unbelievable.
At the same time, Meizu is also unrelenting in grabbing the headlines of the technology conference, and they openly fought back in the warm-up of Xiaomi's event, and took the initiative to indicate that they would be the first owner of Xiaomi's new model Su7, which is full of provocation.
In terms of entering the automotive market, Meizu has decided to launch their "Unbounded Zhixing Open Platform", which is similar to Huawei's strategy and is not limited to any specific car brand cooperation. Meizu plans to provide Flyme Auto, the in-vehicle operating system, as well as related services and applications, to embrace the trend of intelligent transformation.
However, in practice, it is not easy to expand to different car brands at the same time like Huawei. Huawei's refusal to build the car itself stems from concerns that it will lead to direct competition with partners, and Meizu will face the same challenges. Although Meizu's automotive business was carried out with Geely's blessing, it remains a question mark whether their success can be replicated in the broader field of car manufacturing.
At the technology conference, Meizu expressed its confidence that it understands automotive technology better than Huawei, mainly because they have the support of Geely Group behind them, which gives them a comparative advantage in vehicle development capabilities and efficiency. According to internal sources, Meizu's automotive business has developed to the testing stage and may soon enter the production and sales process in the future.
Meizu's car project seems to draw heavily on Geely's experience and resources, and in the long run, it seems to be more inclined to be an integrator than a traditional automaker, not only to build cars, but also to promote its intelligent car machine systems.
For Geely, building a car doesn't seem to be a big problem – they have successfully run multiple car brands and numerous listed companies. Meizu, on the other hand, may have been set at an early stage after its acquisition by Geely, that is, to imitate Huawei and become a provider of smart car solutions.
Aside from specific technical and business strategic considerations, Meizu's entry into the automotive market is partly in line with Geely's intelligent ambitions, and Meizu's core value may lie in its deep insight into the automotive sector, rather than the understanding of car manufacturing as a simple mobile phone manufacturer.
There are still many unknowns about whether Meizu will be as successful in the automotive sector as its mobile phone business, including whether it will be able to attract enough auto partners and its actual influence on the platform of Unbounded Zhixing. Although Meizu has Geely's backing, just like Huawei's partners who are trying to expand its automotive solutions business, every step Meizu takes is fraught with uncertainties.