Alibaba pushes its mobile OS with $590M investment in phone maker Meizu

The Meizu MX4 is the newest flagship phone.


China’s ecommerce titan Alibaba started the week by announcing a US$590 million investment in phone maker Meizu. It gives Alibaba a “minority” but undisclosed stake in the smartphone company.

Alibaba says it and Meizu will “collaborate at both strategic and business levels” in areas such as “ecommerce, mobile internet, mobile operating system, and data analysis.” In addition, Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao estores, which collectively have 334 million active shoppers, will play host to Meizu’s online stores.

That mention of a mobile operating system refers to Alibaba’s YunOS, which first launched in 2011 on a variety of phones from third-party brands. However, Alibaba’s OS has struggled to take off as a popular alternative to Android. In October 2014, Alibaba and Meizu tied up for the first time to make a special edition of the Meizu MX4 than runs Alibaba’s OS rather than Android. That phone sells for RMB 1,799 (US$295) in China.

Going mobile


Alibaba’s Meizu investment comes after other major Chinese web companies have aligned themselves with phone companies, such as Qihoo’s US$400 million investment in Coolpad, and Tencent’s ongoing partnership with Xiaomi.

Meizu was the first Chinese startup phone maker to make international headlines in the early days of smartphones, but its star soon faded as arch-rival Xiaomi grew quickly to become a new Chinese tech giant. Meizu is now battling for attention amidst an array of upstart phone brands in China, such as Oppo and OnePlus.

Our review of the Android version of the Meizu MX4 is here.

See: China’s hottest homegrown smartphones redefine what you get for just $300

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