Meitu Announces To Close Smartphone Business, Hand Over Its Technology To Xiaomi

The competition in the Chinese smartphone market has become fiercer in the last two years. In this context, many traditional phone makers have announced to close their smartphone business. But for some phone makers, this doesn’t mean that their tech won’t be integrated into future devices. This is the case with Meitu phones which are known to be favored by women.

It is known that Meitu announced its 2018 annual revenue report a few days ago. Accordingly, the revenue of the company in 2018 reached CNY2,792 billion (US$0.42 billion) last year, decreasing by 37.8% compared to 2017. The adjusted net loss of the company was CNY87,91 billion (US$13.09 billion). Almost the loss was due to its smartphone business downswing.

Besides, according to the report, this Chinese company achieved CNY1,843 billion (US$0.27 billion) in the smart hardware business in 2018, decreasing by 50.7% compared to the previous year. Speaking about this issue at its performance meeting, Meitu said that it would completely close its mobile business before mid-2019. However, it turns out that Xiaomi will take responsibility for R&D, manufacturing, and promotion, meanwhile, Meitu will just enjoy the revenue.

In fact, at the beginning of last November, Meitu has announced in-depth cooperation with Xiaomi. Accordingly, the company will license its smartphone’s second level domain name, image technology, and brand image to Xiaomi worldwide. And the company will be the sole company to use Meitu’s patents and relevant technologies.

It is widely known that Meitu handsets have been favored by women as always. By using the company’s core imaging tech, Xiaomi will boost its devices’ imaging effect in capturing photos more and win more women’s love too.

But, Meitu and Xiaomi have not announced their next products will still launch under the Meitu brand or Xiaomi will use the core tech in its handsets directly.