Meizu finally crossing the border, opening Hong Kong store in December

Yes, it will be located in Hong Kong. They haven't said anything about clearing the custom fro Meizu side. But from that " to some major Europe countries " I suppose, that Germany won't be included because of Apple :D

I'm curious how this is going to be set up.

It can't be legal for a manufacturer to sell telecommunications devices directly to consumers across international borders, so any website must be run by an authorized distributor for Meizu, not Meizu itself. Taxes and customs? Never mind not being registered as a business in the country of destination, how does a business outside that country collect (and presumably pay) taxes and duties on a mobile phone that hasn't been certified for operation or sale anywhere outside China and the Hong Kong SAR?

Well, the M9 has already got CE certification, so I suppose they'll be applying for the MX as well. I guess they'll have some kind of disclaimer in their Ts&Cs to say that all import duties are the responsibility of the buyer (I would if I were them). They obviously sell direct via their shops, unless all the MZ shops are franchises?

I wonder if there's some legal loophole because the point of sale is actually China, not the computer that is viewing the website?

Yes, they have CE which allows them to sell the products outside the China, as for Hong Kong I don't really know, but I think that they opened a branch company for that region, to separate it from the rest of the Meizu CN ( would help against all the lawsuits a bit :D ) as for selling, in China it is allowed for a manufacturer to sell directly to the customers, or maybe it's better to say not forbidden.

EDIT : I don't know why, but I think that they are not going to be successful with this "expansion", MX won't be accepted as a desired immigrant from China

Again if I were them I'd be looking for deals with international carriers, like ZTE have done. This has the benefit of leveraging local market knowledge in specific countries as to what consumers want/need from a phone. It also inspires consumer confidence to have a locally known company on the label, as well as having a local point of contact for warranty issues, tech support etc.

I very much agree with that long-term view...and as we know from chatter on the board here, Meizu already has an agreement with Emgeton in the Czech Republic for the M9. Hopefully that development work will also be extended to the MX. But Emgeton was easy since they've worked with Meizu all the way back to pre-Miniplayer days. With markets moving at warp speed these days, I guess the online shop is going to be the fastest way to get Meizu's name out there. Hopefully the combination of novelty, hardware, price, warranty, and rooting potential will prove successful.

unless all the MZ shops are franchises?

They are.

but I think that they opened a branch company for that region, to separate it from the rest of the Meizu CN

They did. It's called Future Technology Enterprise Ltd.

as for selling, in China it is allowed for a manufacturer to sell directly to the customers, or maybe it's better to say not forbidden.

True enough. Xiaomi started off as direct-sales. I was thinking of direct sales across international borders, though.

In Europe it's not allowed, so that's why they created Future Technology Enterprise LTD, but still they are not going to open stores in Europe, they are just going to start offering export services for worldwide clients. I have a meeting with client management director of O2, coming to the university few weeks later... Want to get my MX until then

so looks like for me as a german there will not be any changes compared to the M9. It does not matter if I buy my phone at DX in HK or if I buy it at a meizu online shop which is located in HK. so far the planed internationalization does not improve anything for me as a german. unfortunately

Of course there's a difference; otherwise why would Meizu or Future Technology (or whoever) even bother? The difference is trust, since this website would presumably carry the Meizu name and offer a rock-solid, customer-friendly warranty and returns policy.

Otherwise, true, the logistics would probably be similar...shipping options, shipping times, and likely the same "you're responsible" customs policy. Also true, there's little-to-no localization...but that's why Meizu unlocked the international version as a first step. It will be interesting to see if the site provides a platform for discussion or sharing of customer mods.

If the website, pricing, policies, and communication channels are all well thought-out and promoted, though, it should kill off the sales of most of the current third-party sellers. Oh, and the language and editing, too...those third-party sites are usually riddled with errors and inaccuracies.

the biggest advantage is like you said for the international buyers: the price. Meizu will sell it for it's actual price and no hobo website can carge you 100USD more, just because it has the bliss to have some in stock.

at the moment without localization of every major country in EU, with the same logistics as I buy at DX or ebay, there is really not a big advantage coming in near future. They should think about opening a Meizu-web-shop inside Europe and USA. Then we international customers can buy our divices there and we can return it to the shop when it needs repair. Sending to CN or HK is not really a problem after all, but when you get back your repaired phone you sometimes have to deal with custom again. Not to mention the long waiting time and risk of loosing the parcel during ot's travel.

the warranty topic is not really better since the internationalization! With my M8 bought at ebay in CN I had warranty too. As my touch screen has malfuction I could return it and got it repaired. Simple as that. The only thing that bothered me was the long waiting time and the possibility that I had to go to customs again to pick it up. So where is the improvement concerning the warranty topic?

True enough, Meizu has been good about warranties no matter where and how the phones were purchased. To that end, no difference.

I was just lumping together the warranty with the whole "trust" thing...customers should feel much better about returning a device to a Meizu "shop", hopefully receiving a support ticket that gets updated as the phone goes through warranty service. Shipping costs should also be something Meizu considers as a measure of their confidence in their product quality and service...even postage-paid labels for customers to print after receiving a warranty ticket??

Originally Posted by chengdude

True enough, Meizu has been good about warranties no matter where and how the phones were purchased. To that end, no difference.

I was just lumping together the warranty with the whole "trust" thing...customers should feel much better about returning a device to a Meizu "shop", hopefully receiving a support ticket that gets updated as the phone goes through warranty service. Shipping costs should also be something Meizu considers as a measure of their confidence in their product quality and service...even postage-paid labels for customers to print after receiving a warranty ticket??

postage paid labels would be a step in the right direction! a support ticket too. Good ideas cheng!