Polestar Vs. Nio: EV Makers To Clash Beyond The Road In Smartphone Battle

Sweden’s Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC PSNY, seems to be taking an intriguing leap into the smartphone market, following in the footsteps of Chinese EV maker Nio Inc NIO.

What Happened: Polestar is planning to launch a smartphone carrying the brand’s name in China in December as it begins to deliver its Polestar 4, CNBC reported, citing company CEO Thomas Ingenlath.

The phone will be a ‘premium’ device and will be developed as part of the joint venture between Polestar and Chinese smartphone maker Xingji Meizu owned by Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd GELYF, the report said. Polestar itself is backed by Geely.

Polestar 4: Polestar started taking orders for the Polestar 4 SUV coupe at the Chengdu Auto Show in August. It is on track to start production in November and the first customer deliveries are slated before year-end in China. 

Deliveries to the rest of the world are planned for early 2024, the CEO said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last week.

The price position of the Polestar 4 is higher than the Polestar 2 but lower than the Polestar 3. 

In the company's first-quarter earnings call in May, the CEO had said the Polestar 4 does not directly compete with Tesla's Model Y but instead is much closer in the price range to Porsche Macan with a starting price of around $60,000.

Nio’s Smartphone: Meanwhile, Nio will launch its own mobile phone in late September, company CEO William Li said. Explaining the intent behind the new venture, the CEO said its foray into the phone business is not to compete with other phone makers.

"Instead, we would like to use the phone as a carrier to provide the best experience for our vehicle users," Li said during the company’s last earnings call. "The underlying software and logic between the phones and the cars are quite similar."

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