Polestar is partnering with a Geely-owned smartphone maker to create a device specifically designed to work with the upcoming Polestar 4 in China
2 hours ago
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When customers sign up to buy the Polestar 4 in China, they will have the opportunity to purchase a new smartphone designed to integrate with their car. That’s because the Swedish EV manufacturer is partnering with Xingji Meizu.
Like Polestar, the Chinese smartphone maker is owned by Geely, making the collaboration synergistic. It will also allow the automaker to offer its clients a smart device that was designed from the ground up to integrate with its vehicle.
“Where you have an opportunity to link these two worlds, without any border … then you can really have a seamless transition,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told CNBC.
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The CEO complained of the current state of connected vehicles that he still has “problems to get, you know, the SMS displayed.” To minimize such problems, the smartphone and the Polestar 4 will both run on Meizu’s FlyMe operating system—unlike in Europe and the U.S. where its vehicles will run on a Google OS.
“It’s not just good enough to bring a great European design to China, you have to be very, very special about what you offer to the market when it comes to software,” said Ingenlath.
Ingenlath said that the new phone will be a “premium” device to match Polestar’s cars, which he views as competing with BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche. That will be a step up for Meizu, which is considered a mid-tier phone company.
Unfortunately for Polestar, this technological synergy won’t be unique to it. China’s Nio plans to beat it to the punch with a self-developed smartphone coming to market in September. The Swedish manufacturer will still be one of the early adopters, as it plans to launch the phone alongside the Polestar 4, which is set to start sales before the end of the year.
