The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced today that it will invest 590 million dollars (520 million euros) in the Chinese electronics and mobile phone manufacturer Meizu.
Through a statement, the company based in Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province) explained that this is a "minority interest" in signing the Cantonese city of Zhuhai (border with Macao), the main rival of the Chinese manufacturer mobile Xiaomi.
From this investment, Alibaba has agreed with Meizu mutual cooperation "in both strategy and business, to achieve deeper integration in Meizu hardware with an Alibabaoperating system for mobile ," the statement said.
For that reason, Alibaba will offer Meizu "support and resources" technology, so that the devices are more suited to their e-commerce systems for mobile, one of the weaknesses of Alibaba competitive against its domestic rival JD.com, whose portal is best adapted to this technology increasingly used.
Meanwhile, Alibaba group virtual markets themselves will become new distribution channels for Meizu devices, which also makes music and video players.
"Investment in Meizu represents a significant expansion of the ecosystem of Alibaba Group, and an important step in our overall mobile strategy, as we try to offer users a wider range of offers and experiences for mobile range" praised Wang Jian, technology chief officer of Alibaba Group.
In 2014 China already added more than 1,000 million mobile phone users, reminded the Chinese group, about 40 percent of them smartphone users, ie, with internet, which is establishing itself as the main form of expansion e-commerce in rural areas.
Alibaba will invest $590 million in Meizu, Xiaomi's main rival
