Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Polestar
Polestar has long been the carmaker spearheading the Android Automotive push, as it was one of the first companies to adopt Google's car operating system. Today, all its vehicles run on Android Automotive.
That's going to change in China, as Polestar has recently joined forces with Meizu specifically to reinvent the infotainment experience.
As you'd normally expect, given this is a joint venture with a Chinese company, the chosen Android Automotive replacement is a solution developed locally. Flyme Auto is Meizu's big and super-advanced bet in the infotainment space, coming with a myriad of features that truly aren't available anywhere else (I recently posted a very detailed look at Flyme Auto, and I recommend you to check it out to understand why it's such an impressive piece of software for today's cars).
If you've never heard of Meizu, the company is typically involved in the smartphone biz, as it typically happens lately, these firms are constantly looking into ways to expand to new markets. As such, Meizu is also looking at the automotive market, and Flyme Auto is the biggest attempt in this direction. The partnership with Meizu is the second.
As Polestar says loud and clear, cars sold in China will give up on Android Automotive for Flyme Auto. On the other hand, Android Automotive will continue to power the infotainment experience behind the wheel of a Polestar in international markets.
The partnership between the two isn't necessarily surprising if you look at the upper management details. Meizu's owner is Geely chairman Li Shufu. Geely owns Volvo, Polestar's parent company, so Meizu working with Polestar on reinventing the infotainment experience in the car looks like a deal that was bound to happen sooner or later.
Sure enough, many people might wonder if this partnership can also expand to international markets. While such a thing would make perfect sense, I highly doubt it, as Android Automotive has greater marketing potential in Europe and the United States than a Chinese product, especially given today's geopolitical tensions. Furthermore, with many people already using an Android device and Google services, Android Automotive makes more sense in a car than an operating system developed by a Chinese company.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Flyme Auto isn't a great product. It certainly is, and the feature lineup is absolutely mind-blowing, turning the infotainment into a much more dynamic system overall. Polestar is unlikely to be the only company using Flyme Auto in China, as other local carmakers will probably adopt it in the coming months.
Sure enough, no specifics have been offered at this point, but keeping it exclusive to Polestar models sold in China could make sense from an organizational perspective but not from a business point of view for Meizu.
As you'd normally expect, given this is a joint venture with a Chinese company, the chosen Android Automotive replacement is a solution developed locally. Flyme Auto is Meizu's big and super-advanced bet in the infotainment space, coming with a myriad of features that truly aren't available anywhere else (I recently posted a very detailed look at Flyme Auto, and I recommend you to check it out to understand why it's such an impressive piece of software for today's cars).
If you've never heard of Meizu, the company is typically involved in the smartphone biz, as it typically happens lately, these firms are constantly looking into ways to expand to new markets. As such, Meizu is also looking at the automotive market, and Flyme Auto is the biggest attempt in this direction. The partnership with Meizu is the second.
As Polestar says loud and clear, cars sold in China will give up on Android Automotive for Flyme Auto. On the other hand, Android Automotive will continue to power the infotainment experience behind the wheel of a Polestar in international markets.
The partnership between the two isn't necessarily surprising if you look at the upper management details. Meizu's owner is Geely chairman Li Shufu. Geely owns Volvo, Polestar's parent company, so Meizu working with Polestar on reinventing the infotainment experience in the car looks like a deal that was bound to happen sooner or later.
Sure enough, many people might wonder if this partnership can also expand to international markets. While such a thing would make perfect sense, I highly doubt it, as Android Automotive has greater marketing potential in Europe and the United States than a Chinese product, especially given today's geopolitical tensions. Furthermore, with many people already using an Android device and Google services, Android Automotive makes more sense in a car than an operating system developed by a Chinese company.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Flyme Auto isn't a great product. It certainly is, and the feature lineup is absolutely mind-blowing, turning the infotainment into a much more dynamic system overall. Polestar is unlikely to be the only company using Flyme Auto in China, as other local carmakers will probably adopt it in the coming months.
Sure enough, no specifics have been offered at this point, but keeping it exclusive to Polestar models sold in China could make sense from an organizational perspective but not from a business point of view for Meizu.
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