Alibaba pumps $590M into Chinese smartphone-maker
Alibaba has announced plans to invest $590 million in Meizu, a fast-growing Chinese smartphone-maker, in exchange for an undisclosed minority stake in the company.
Alibaba reportedly plans to integrate its mobile operating system and e-commerce technology into Meizu’s phones, as well as sell Meizu phones and other devices through its online marketplaces, and work with the company to conduct data analysis.
“The investment in Meizu represents … an important step in our overall mobile strategy as we strive to bring users a wider array of mobile offerings and experiences,” said Wang Jian, Alibaba’s CTO, in a prepared statement.
Meizu, founded in 2003, currently sells four phones, one of which has been described as an iPhone 5c “on steroids” by Engadget.
Meizu President Yongxiang Bai said, “This strategic collaboration with Alibaba Group will enable Meizu to further develop our smartphone business and our smart devices ecosystems.”
Imagine Communications buys RGB Networks in biggest acquisition to date
Media technology company Imagine Communications has purchased Sunnyvale, Calif.-based RGB Networks for an undisclosed amount.
The deal marks Imagine’s biggest purchase to date, according to the Dallas Business Journal, and its fourth acquisition in 12 months.
Frisco, Texas-based Imagine plans to fold RGB’s multiscreen video delivery solutions into its advertising management and video infrastructure portfolio. RGB said in a prepared statement that the majority of its employees will stay on after the acquisition closes.
RGB Networks’ Just-in-Time Packaging was appealing to Imagine because it “simplifies and enhances” the delivery of streaming media to a consumer’s device of choice, Imagine officials said.
Imagine said RGB’s solutions will complement its own compression expertise and leadership in ABR transcoding and encoding.
Imagine also acquired OpenTV’s advanced advertising business unit from the Kudelski Group last November.
In January 2014, Harris Broadcast purchased Imagine Communications and renamed itself after the acquisition.
