Meizu in Trouble - Raided by German Police

CmdrCord

Thanks for the insight, SimonePMP.
Looks like those "patent trolls" also seek media attention to intimidate other manufacturers, saying "better pay your fee right from the start, or we'll beat the c**p out of you later"...

citizenklaw

There's a lot of noise because they do not fear the M8 itself, they fear what Meizu is capable of doing. I've always thought that most of these Chinese companies will eventually move from imitation to innovation. As Mx (3,6) owners we know our devices are more open and superior to whatever Cupertino thinks out. Yes, the M8 is like the iPhone but so is LG's product. However it has better specs than the iPhone.

That's the thing: what happens when these guys (Meizu and their peers) outdo the big US marketing, er, technology firms with better kit? It's only a matter of time.

And for the record, I'd still buy the M8 when it comes out. If it works with any GSM carrier in the US. The timing couldn't be better as I should be out of my crappy Sprint contract by this time next year.

hotboxx

Simply because of all this, I am willing to wait a much longer time for the M8. Jack Wong is our Steve Jobs.

chengdude

He would be an idiot if he didn't pay attention to Meizu's press coverage abroad. Why do you think they're at CeBIT? European countries with their stupid-high taxes are going to be important markets, especially if J Wong envisions the future of his company built on sales of the M8. A "market of over a billion people"? How many people in China have the disposable income to spend $300-$400 on a phone? Hint: not "over a billion". True, there are more mobile phone users in China than people in the U.S., but a big chunk of that market is for low-end Chinese brands ($100 or less). The market for phones that do what the M8 promises is miniscule in comparison.

For the moment, the iPhone is a Statement in China. You buy it because you can afford it and because you're hip/trendy/fashionable. China is a very class conscious society and the new breed of Chinese consumer is just as brand, quality, and status conscious as anywhere else...OK, maybe not Japan or India. The only reason the iPhone will be "buried" is when it becomes passé.

No matter how awesome it turns out to be, to think the M8 will be some kind of game-changer in China is, to use you own word, delusional. Also, don't forget there are certain companies that have worked much longer and much harder than Meizu to cultivate brand awareness, status, and loyalty among Chinese consumers...hard to believe Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola are going to give up and pack their bags when the M8 is introduced.

iversonjack

that's just sad seriously

SimonePMP

I have a few friends here at CeBit that are chinese manufacturers (and also quite successful).

There is now a change in the Government policy that is more or less forcing a change in the techology business and the change is: "stop the export - as we are overdoing that - and target the internal market". The Government is lowering a lot the tax advantages for exporters and these advantage are going to vanish in a couple of years time. The international pressure is high and the policy of being less "China does everything at cheap prices" is very reasonable.

Obviously they are also making life harder for foreign brands to enter China, but this is part of the international trade game. They know very well how to protect the local market (just remember what happened for WiFi, with their own standard, patented and regulated by the Government itself about licencing).

About iPhone, I got this "400.000 units currently used in China" from one of these very well informed guys (and he really knows what he says about this industry).

So almost everything I read so far is sound: big potential for M8, strong chance that it will be mainly targeted at domestic market and also harder life for foreign brands to enter the local market.

Going to the M8 itself, I followed a very similar story in the past: the company striving to enter the PDA phone market was E-Ten (Taiwan). The very first three models were a good try, but very buggy. E-Ten spent a LOT of time in R&D to make them work without being too much successful. It took 2 years of trial and error to get their designs stable, reliable and usable. Now they are so successful - at least in terms of product quality and know how - that they are going to be bought by a BIG brand and just become a division of that brand. They sold the first designs as finished products to the market making many customers very upset (resets, line drops, freezings, hard resets and so on), but with M500 things changed and with the following devices the worse was gone.

I believe that Meizu will follow a similar path: only when you have an "unwilling beta tester community" got from the market itself - thanks to early adopters - you have enough feedback to spot your design weakness. They will fix it and make an improved version and the third design will be "the one" that never lets you down. These PDA phones are a damn complex thing with issues almost everywhere: from power management to proper task switching times and priorities, to internal noise, standards compliance, testing and certification.
Just look at other manufacturers that entered the same market: were the very first PDA Phones from Asus a hit and a robust product? And what about the HP first PDA Phones? Even HTC had to go through hard times before they mastered this kind of technology (and by the way they are now behind the "first model" of many big names).

I will give my trust to M8 and I will also accept that it will be buggy and far from perfect (maybe even hardly usable) because this is what I did with the other products. Without this kind of support, there won't be the next design and the "perfect one".

Moogle Stiltzkin

This kinda reminds me of the Apple TV versus the Popcorn A100 :X

Their both media centers but Apple Tv only does basic formats like wmv. It looks good and costs alot....

Popcorn-A100 on the otherhand does ALL THE FORMATS !!!! It's cheap and good bang for your bucks with a lot of support.


It is the same for IPOD VS Meizu imho :X Meizu is so much better then a gimpy looking Ipod that does few formats :P

Blah

If it does get out in time, i think the M8 will do better in china than the iphone.

Russarch

Theres even a Vid of the eviction on YouTube:

YouTube - Eviction Meizu stand at CeBIT 2008

sere83

haha, amazing, is that J.Wong standing there playing with his phone? it looks like him