Founder of Chinese car maker Geely launches smartphone venture

SHANGHAI: A new venture from the founder of Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding will aim to release its first smartphone by 2023 and sell 3 million units in its first year, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

Geely, which owns Volvo, announced on Tuesday that chairman Eric Li, also known as Li Shufu, will launch a new company that will make premium smartphones, taking it into a competitive sector dominated by a handful of giants.

Although Li has made futuristic bets on ventures such as flying cars and helicopter taxis, a foray into phones puts Geely into a highly competitive sector that is no longer growing in China and is dominated by a handful of players including Apple, China’s Xiaomi Corp and others.