Meizu chooses Thailand as Southeast Asia hub

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu Technology (China) has selected Thailand as its headquarters for Indochina as its seeks to capitalise on the imminent arrival of fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband service nationwide.

“Thailand is a top 10 strategic country outside of China thanks to its high smartphone penetration and huge potential migration from 2G or 3G to 4G services,” said Li Xiao, overseas sales and marketing manager of Meizu Technology (China).

In February, Alibaba Group Holding invested US$590 million for a minority stake in Meizu.

Meizu has a 4-5% share of the smartphone market in China.

Mr Li said Meizu will set up a representative office in Thailand in the next two months, positioning the country as a centre for business development and market expansion within the Mekong Sub-region.

He said Thailand was the first country Meizu chose to launch its smartphones in Southeast Asia.

The company also has a presence in Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia and will expand to Laos soon.

“We expect to double the global sales of our smartphones in 2016, up from an expected 23 million units sold this year, and 5 million in 2014,” said Mr Li.

The company expects half of its revenue to come from the overseas market by 2020, up from less than 10% at present.

Mr Li said Meizu would continue expanding its presence globally, adding to its existing 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Meizu is introducing a full range of 4G-ready smartphones, priced from 4,990-10,990 baht depending on functions and features.

The company plans to introduce a highend model priced over $400.

Mr Li acknowledged that Meizu joined the Thai smartphone fray after its rivals.

“With our designs, competitive prices and high specifications, our phones can be differentiated from others,” he said.

Meizu is focusing on selling its phones through online channels after entering into an exclusive agreement with online marketplace Lazada in Thailand.

Smartphones are one of its best-selling items, said Alessandro Piscini, chief executive of Lazada Thailand.

The replacement market for 4G smartphones in Thailand is expected to be lucrative next year as operators start offering aggressive promotional 4G tariff packages in order to attract existing 2G or 3G users to migrate to 4G networks.

Mr Piscini said sales of mobile handsets in Thailand averaged 1.2 million units each month, with some 85% of the handsets smartphones.