DreamSmart joins fray in fierce EV market

DreamSmart, known for its augmented reality glasses and smartphones, has entered the electric vehicle market by launching the Z10 STARBUFF sedan earlier this week in Beijing, aiming to take a bite of the electric vehicle market like its competitors Huawei and Xiaomi.

Su Jing, CEO of DreamSmart, said with the arrival of the model, the company now offer products in three categories of smartphones, glasses and vehicles. She added the company's upcoming products include a foldable smartphone, the second customized vehicle and a robot.

The Z10 STARBUFF, priced from 236,800 yuan ($33,764), is a model customized for e-sports aficionados based on Lynk & Co's Z10 sedan.

It features DreamSmart's Flyme Auto e-sports entertainment cockpit, which is designed to be compatible with the Windows operating system and tailored to the gaming ecosystem of Chinese enthusiasts.

DreamSmart's chief operating officer Liao Qinghong, a former executive at the EV startup Xpeng, said the company sees an opportunity to revolutionize the auto industry by applying its smartphone expertise, especially with the Flyme system, to address software and interaction shortcomings of traditional car manufacturers.

The company's foray into the auto market will not involve heavy capital investments. Instead, it will leverage resources of its partner Geely, including the SEA structure, to refurbish vehicles with its expertise in the technology field, he said.

Liao said that Volkswagen's collaboration with Xpeng shows that some companies struggle due to inherent limitations rather than financial constraints.

"Giants like Kodak and Nokia have fallen despite their size, indicating that issues are not just about funding but about genes," Liao said.

DreamSmart's advantage over its competitors of Xiaomi and Huawei lies in being open and humble, Liao said. Besides marques of Geely Group, the company is expanding its collaboration with other automakers.

Through light investments and cooperation, Liao considers success as gaining tens of thousands of units annually.

At the company's AI ecosystem launch event on Wednesday, DreamSmart also launched the Meizu Lucky 08 AI smartphone, AR glasses StarV View and StarV Air2, and the intelligent ring StarV Ring2.