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Tag: Meitu

  • Meitu lets retailers test online makeup service during Covid-19

    Meitu lets retailers test online makeup service during Covid-19

    Chinese imaging app Meitu has offered its AR online makeup trial system to global beauty enterprises and retailers for free to help them overcome difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The firm’s Beauty Industry Support Plan was extended from limited-time free use in specific regions to apply universally. The plan was rolled out as a three-month free trial service in the wake of the outbreak for 10,000 beauty enterprises and retailers, with a three-month extension given to existing users – including Givenchy, Shiseido, Clarins, Bausch + Lomb, DFS, and other partners.

    The software, called the Cosmetic Promotion Assistant, is based on Meitu’s facial-recognition and image-processing technologies and is. The system can also recommend suitable colors and styles based on the user’s facial features. It generates a virtual makeup effect within one minute, and also supports sharing and purchase functions, with multiple payment methods allowed.

    In providing free trials to potential customers, users of the service have seen increased sales of makeup products such as lip gloss, blush, eye shadow, and foundation.

    Enterprises and their beauty assistants are able to configure makeup effects on their own branded websites, which can then be shared to social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Purchase links provided on the trial page can redirect users to the vendor’s official website, or marketplaces like Amazon or eBay.

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  • Xiaomi takes over Meitu’s phone business, manufacture co-branded products

    Xiaomi takes over Meitu’s phone business, manufacture co-branded products

    Meitu and Xiaomi have formed a strategic partnership to jointly launch Meitu-branded phones and other smart devices. The partnership between Meitu – best known for its selfie app – and Xiaomi, a fast-growing technology company with smartphones at its core – will have a far-reaching impact on the brand development of Meitu and Xiaomi as well as the smartphone market as a whole, according to research house IDC. It will allow both companies to expand their customer base and signals a further consolidation in the highly competitive Chinese smartphone market.

    A spokesperson for IDC said that during the last year, Xiaomi has stepped up its efforts to improve the camera capabilities of its products and has done a lot in AI-powered photography research and development. “Leveraging Meitu’s image processing technologies and selfie algorithms will help Xiaomi further boost its AI-powered photography and photo quality and reduce its gap with leading vendors such as Huawei.”

    IDC says Meitu is popular with females which will help draw more women to Xiaomi products which are currently “overrepresented by male users”.

    “Introducing the Meitu brand also enables Xiaomi to offer greater diversity of smartphone products under multiple brands and series, including Redmi, Xiaomi, Black Shark, Pocophone, and Meitu. Xiaomi is gradually forming a multi-brand portfolio targeting different user groups, thereby laying the foundation for it to compete in the market in the long term.”

    The spokesperson said that through Xiaomi’s sales network, Meitu’s software products will reach a larger group of customers via smartphones. “Moreover, licensing its hardware business to Xiaomi allows Meitu to focus on software development and the upgrade of its image processing technologies.”

    And finally, with the top five vendors in China’s smartphone market taking up nearly 83 per cent market share, the growth potential will increasingly diminish for small vendors in areas such as marketing and supply chain resource integration.

    “Going forward, more small vendors are expected to seek strategic cooperation with large vendors and drive consolidation in the China’s smartphone market.”

    Meitu was founded in Xiamen in 2008 as a developer of selfie apps such as MeituPic and BeautyCam, and has been focussed on selfie algorithm development. In 2013, the company ventured into the smartphone market and launched smartphones targeting female users and the selfie market. Despite a higher profit per phone sold and a higher brand premium, the company has become increasingly marginalised in China’s brutally competitive smartphone market due to its meagre shipments.

    According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Meitu only had a mere 0.5 per cent market share in China with shipments of approximately 1.5 million units as of the third quarter of this year.

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  • HK’s Goxip secures funding for massive expansion plan

    HK’s Goxip secures funding for massive expansion plan

    Hong Kong fashion e-commerce business Goxip has secured US$1.4 million from financial services firm Convoy Global Holdings. The investment will fund Goxip’s planned expansion in Southeast Asia and allow the establishment of new payment services, including installment loans to online shoppers. The initiatives are expected to make the firm’s products more affordable to a broader audience in the region.

    Goxip has already set up in Malaysia and Thailand.

    Goxip raised $5 million early this year from Chinese imaging/video app developer Meitu and Nan Fung Group along with input from three individual investors. Meitu, which is also bringing its 456 million active users into play, also invested in this round of funding.

    Goxip’s CEO Juliette Gimenez said: “With Meitu’s help, we’ve been growing faster than expected, especially with our Thailand launch ahead of schedule. Bringing Convoy on board will allow us to keep our momentum while also adding an important fintech component to our play, especially as we enter emerging markets across Southeast Asia where spending power still lags behind Hong Kong and Singapore.”

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  • CK Hutchison and Meitu Form Strategic Alliance

    CK Hutchison and Meitu Form Strategic Alliance

    CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (“CK Hutchison”) announced a strategic alliance with China’s leading image processing and social sharing platform, Meitu Inc. Striving to combine beauty with social media, Meitu will partner with CK Hutchison’s retail division, A.S. Watson Group, and Hong Kong telecom subsidiary, 3 Hong Kong, to build a brand-new business model integrating social media and retail. This cooperation will bring together the many facets of user experience, user system, technology research and development, precision marketing, and big data with business strategy.

    Leveraging Meitu’s artificial intelligence technology and CK Hutchison’s expertise in retail and telecom, the alliance will bring a refreshing and interactive online and offline shopping experience to customers of the millennial generation. Canning Fok, Group Co-Managing Director of CK Hutchison, said, “This partnership further enhances our customer connectivity, improving CK Hutchison’s online and offline interaction with customers. Meitu users can try beauty products virtually on their mobile phone and get product recommendation through advanced artificial intelligence. In addition to expanding the customer base in China and Hong Kong, Watsons aims to provide the best shopping experience for its patrons. 3 Hong Kong customers can design personalised products and enjoy a new, onestop mobile shopping experience through our cooperation with Meitu. We are confident of this partnership and believe that it will create a three-way win for customers, Meitu and CK Hutchison.”

    Bryan Cheng, Chief Operating Officer of Meitu, added, “With a huge number of female online users from Meitu and strong female customer base from CK Hutchison, the partnership can further improve the value of Meitu’s user platforms while combining beauty with social media, strengthening the connection and interaction with our customers as well as making them look more beautiful.”

    Meitu and CK Hutchison’s 3 Hong Kong will partner to introduce “MeituDIY” customization service to Hong Kong, and 3 Hong Kong’s customers will be the first to experience this onestop value added service to create personalised products. After editing photos through the Hong Kong version of the Meitu app, users can print their photos directly on mobile phone cases, clothes, umbrellas, cloth bags, cups and mouse pads, creating unique personalised products and presenting them as gifts to relatives and friends.

    CK Hutchison’s Watsons Hong Kong will take the lead in introducing Meitu’s “Magic Mirror” which offers around 600 makeup products from international makeup brands. Backed-up by big data technology, customers can try different makeup looks, download the previews, try-on products while enjoying the online and offline shopping experience anytime, anywhere. “Magic Mirror” offers a variety of fashionable makeup styles recommended by beauty advisors, helping customers to choose their favourite makeup style for work or dating.

    Meitu’s “Magic Mirror” will first be launched in Watsons Hong Kong’s Mongkok Bank Centre and Cameron Road branches in late-October this year, and then will be introduced to around 30 more Watsons stores in the first half of 2019. With Meitu’s facial recognition and AI analysis technology, users will be able to apply real time makeup virtually. Through big data technology, Watsons can recommend the right products based on customers’ habits and behaviour in the Meitu app, which will eventually enhance customer connectivity.

    Meitu’s BeautyCam app has also been upgraded with the feature of making product recommendations via skin analysis, helping to match users with the right products that are available at Watsons. This feature will be activated in Mainland China by late-October this year while Hong Kong users can enjoy the feature in the first quarter of 2019. The BeautyCam app is a professional one-stop-solution for beauty enthusiasts to know the needs of their skin, and at the same time effectively increase the transaction value of Watsons customers.

    Furthermore, Watsons China will begin its cooperation with Meitu Social Media in lateOctober, enabling the retailer to get closer to their target customers by delivering tailor-made messages. The cooperation not only helps Watsons reach the right audience, but also helps bring an innovative social media experience to them.

    Watsons China will launch an official account on Meitu social media in November this year. When customers edit their photos using features like “face-lift” and “acne-removal”, Watsons will recommend products that suit each customer’s needs. This allows the retailer to match customers with the right products available at its stores, driving consumer conversions. Through Meitu social media, Watsons can interact with users by encouraging word-of-mouth recommendations on Watsons products. As a result, users can browse hot items and related information online.

    The cooperation between Watsons China’s loyalty programme and Meitu will bring mutual benefits to both parties, riding on the collective network of Meitu’s 350 million monthly active users and quality customers from Watsons online and offline channels. The strategic alliance unfolds opportunities in recruiting new loyalty members, and brings more transaction by recommending the right products according to big data and user habits and behaviours in the Meitu app. To attract more new members, Watsons China will promote their joint membership card through its online and offline platforms while the Meitu app will encourage its users to become Watsons members.

  • Meitu try on e-commerce to boost revenues

    Meitu try on e-commerce to boost revenues

    China’s beauty-enhancing app developer and smartphone maker Meitu is looking to boost revenues by expanding further into e-commerce, leading a $5 million funding round in Goxip, a Hong Kong-based online shopping platform.

    Juliette Gimenez, CEO and co-founder at Goxip, said that the Chinese photo-editing applications maker was the biggest contributor to its series A funding round, making it the first e-commerce company in which Xiamen-based Meitu has invested.

    “Meitu will be a strategic partner,” Gimenez said. In addition to the investment, the two companies would cooperate in various ways, including on Goxip’s expansion in the lucrative mainland China market, she said

    Gimenez said she started talking to Meitu’s executives, including founder Cai Wensheng, about six months ago, when the selfie app company was seeking to diversify.

    Meitu, whose image-processing applications are reportedly used to edit more than half of China’s selfies on social media, now labels itself a “mobile internet company.”

    “We will not comment on one single project,” Meitu’s spokesperson said. However, she added: “Meitu’s investment strategy has always been revolving around new technology, beauty and user growth.”

    Last year Meitu rolled out two e-commerce platforms. MeituDIY allowed users to design and create personalized outfits using artificial intelligence and to purchase the items from its platform. The other application, MeituBeauty, specializing in cosmetics and skincare, allows shoppers to try out the products by uploading their selfie.

    The investment in Goxip is also expected to accelerate Meitu’s overseas expansion.

    Goxip partners with more than 500 international online retailers. Its data base comprises more than 36,000 luxury brands and 5 million items, according to its website. The fashion retail platform allows users to search similar products by uploading photos.

    Despite a market cap of 48.97 billion Hong Kong dollars ($6.26 billion), Hong Kong-listed Meitu has not made a profit since it was founded in 2008. But its business segment including online advertising, e-commerce and virtual item sales turned profitable for the first time in the first half of last year, according to its financial filings.

    In December 2017, Meitu acquired a stake in Hong Kong-based media company PressLogic, which uses data and technologies including machine learning to better target advertising on social media.

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  • Meitu’s Hong Kong IPO to value China photo app maker at up to $4.5 billion

    Meitu’s Hong Kong IPO to value China photo app maker at up to $4.5 billion

    Chinese photo app and mobile phone maker Meitu Inc is set to launch an up to $735 million initial public offering in Hong Kong, IFR reported on Monday, citing people close to the deal. Meitu, better known for its apps that let users retouch and beautify selfies and other photos, is offering shares in an indicative range of HK$8.50 to HK$9.60 ($1.10-$1.24) each, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. The IPO is slated to be priced on Dec 8.

    Meitu did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the IPO terms. The deal will value Meitu, which counts venture capital investors Qiming Venture Partners, IDG-Accel China and Tiger Global among its backers, at up to $4.5 billion, IFR said.

    The IPO will be a rare technology sector IPO in Hong Kong. Between one-quarter to one-third of the shares will be sold to cornerstone investors, IFR said. That would be much lower than some of the large new listings in the city, including the $7.6 billion IPO of Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) in September that had 77 percent of its deal bought by cornerstones.

    Large investments by cornerstone investors hurt liquidity for IPOs once the shares start trading, as the stock is locked up for a minimum of six months. The cornerstone money can also pressure the stock as the expiration of the lock-up period nears. China Merchants Securities, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were hired as sponsors of the IPO.

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