China's mobile phone king is fading away.

Bird, the mobile phone company that beat Nokia and Motorola in China, faces the risk of delisting from the stock exchange due to heavy losses.

Bird was once the largest mobile phone company in China. Photo: Yicai .

Founded in 1992, Bird started in the pager market. Half a decade later, this Chinese domestic company had sold over 1 million devices, capturing 20% ​​of the market share in the world's most populous nation. When pagers were replaced by mobile phones, Bird launched its first product in 1999.

Shortly after, the business reached its peak. In 2003, they sold over 10 million devices a year. This figure helped Bird surpass both Motorola and Nokia, becoming the largest mobile phone company in China.

The Bird S2000 model, with its flip design and strong signal reception, was once the standard for up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the 2000s. Affordable, stylishly designed phones aimed at female users were also popular in the world's most populous nation.

Bird's S2000 flip phone model. Photo: QQ.

The turning point came in 2007 with the release of the iPhone, ushering in the smartphone era. Bird found itself caught between continuing to make cheap knockoff phones or investing seriously in smartphones. They no longer had a competitive advantage as their products lacked unique selling points, and their price advantage was gone.

By the 2010s, Bird began abandoning its brand and shifting to outsourcing (ODM). They earned "small change" by manufacturing smartphones for sale in emerging countries. The lack of core value led to the manufacturer's gradual decline and eventual elimination from the market. By 2022, their shipments had fallen below 500,000 units.

In 2023, Bird's revenue was around 500 million RMB, a decrease of 11%. They incurred a net loss of 43 million RMB due to ineffective investments. This put the company at risk of delisting. The future of this company is as bleak as that of Coolpad or Gionee, other major Chinese phone manufacturers that went bankrupt due to slow adaptation.

Additionally, the company also has ties to Transsion, the "king of African smartphones" of Chinese origin. The company's founding team were originally members of Bird's overseas development team. However, they now operate independently and have no capital relationship with the company.

Source: https://znews.vn/vua-di-dong-trung-quoc-lui-tan-post1550802.html