- The new product's top price may exceed 100,000 yuan ($14,720), with an initial sales target set at over 100,000 units.
- Founder Yu Hao aims to challenge Apple and Samsung, with total R&D investment for the project expected to reach 10 billion yuan.
Chinese smart home appliance maker Dreame Technology is reportedly planning to launch its first smartphone in the fourth quarter of this year, as it pushes forward with its ambitious expansion plans.
The new product, named Aurora, will target the high-end market with a maximum price tag potentially exceeding 100,000 yuan ($14,720), local media Lanjinger reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The smartphone lineup will be divided into three tiers: a flagship edition, a modular photography flagship edition, and a luxury customized edition.
The overall price range of the products will cover 10,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan. The luxury edition will primarily serve to elevate the brand image, while the flagship edition will take on the main sales volume task, according to Lanjinger.
Dreame will adopt a synchronized global launch strategy with a focus on overseas market sales. The company has set an initial sales target of more than 100,000 units for the new handset.
On the supply chain front, the new phone will be equipped with Qualcomm Inc.'s Snapdragon series processors.
The product is being manufactured by ZTE's Nubia, which will act as the original equipment manufacturer. It will run on Nubia's operating system and display a co-branded logo on the interface, the people said.
Dreame founder Yu Hao has placed extremely high expectations on this new smartphone business. He recently made a clear internal demand that the fully in-house developed phone must be officially launched before the end of this year.
Dreame's smartphone aims to split the market into three alongside Apple and Samsung, Yu said. He even predicted on social media that the business unit's market value will eventually surpass that of Apple.
To achieve this goal, Dreame is pouring massive resources into the sector.
The total research and development investment for the Dreame Aurora phone is expected to reach 10 billion yuan. The company will decide on future additional investments based on the actual market feedback of the three product lines, Lanjinger reported, citing a Dreame insider.
However, the global smartphone market has currently entered a fiercely competitive stage of saturated growth. The highly profitable premium market is firmly dominated by industry giants such as Apple and Huawei, Lanjinger cited a mobile phone industry analyst as saying.
To break through, Dreame plans to introduce an innovative operating system with differentiated advantages. The new phone will be deeply integrated with Dreame's existing global network of more than 6,000 stores and its product ecosystem, Dreame said.
($1 = 6.7921 yuan)
