A sad day for Chinese phone fans as another player in the market shows signs that it won’t be with us for much longer.
IUNI, the phone start-up owned by Gionee and launched at the same time as OnePlus, could be heading for bankruptcy according to new reports this weekend.
IUNI so far had launched a few rather surprising phones from the original U2 with 16 mega-pixel camera and full CNC alloy body, to the flagship U3 with 2K display and Snapdragon 810 (and costing only 1999 Yuan at launch!). Since those two phones though the company has been in trouble with the original CEO quitting, and a new CEO taking his place with a plan to create phone aimed at a generation of female phone users, a plan that doesn’t seem to have taken off quite as well as she hoped.
Gizchina News of the week
This weekends news of possible IUNI bankruptcy started with a posting on the IUNI forums stating that all staff from the company were leaving, this report has been confirmed by Chinese media but IUNI remain quiet on the matter.
IUNI can put some of the blame on unstable management, but the company also lacked a goal, had very poor marketing, and were competing with brands like Meizu, LeTV and OnePlus who all seemed to have larger budgets.It’s always sad to see another brand go the way of Dakele and iOcean before them but in this case it is hardly surprising.
on the other hand there is a so called IUNI U4 leak http://news.mydrivers.com/1/482/482511.htm
which is obviously fan made
Given the timing that’s not certain. IUNI could have leaked it.
Speaking to Gionee at MWC this year it seemed IUNI were considered a bit of an inside joke.
some updates http://news.mydrivers.com/1/482/482622.htm
This is sad,the brand had way more promise than the flagship Gionee brand. It would’ve turned it what Oneplus turned into for oppo/bbk.
If they are losing money for Gionee that decision is a very easy one to make. As for the supposed U4 leak, it looks like a photoshoped U3.
lol the world doesn’t work like that. Almost any business will lose money at one time or another, that’s no reason to shut it down. Apple was losing money in 1997 when Jobs came back as CEO, Sony was losing money just last year,nobody would be standing if the world would work as you think.
lol, those companies aren’t even close to the same as IUNI. Neither of them are subsidiaries of other companies like IUNI is to Gionee. You have little clue how to real world works, you only know the mythical world in your head which often leaves the rest of us scratching our heads. Just like your pricing models for phones based on benchmarks that only makes sense to you.
In the real world companies divest themselves of subsidiaries all the time when they are losing money. Sony has closed the doors on several of their subsidiaries over the years because they were losing money. Some were sold to other companies, some were completely shut down. Happens in the Auto Industry as well, General Motors shut down Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and several other brands because of massive losses.
in a market where they launch dozen of phones, it’s hard to stay alive even in a billions country.
we will see this more often in near future, phone markets is in a stagnant period and there are no really innovations.
This is what happens when you enter the race to the bottom but don’t finish the race to the bottom.
Good phones, good prices but poor management, no support for international market. OnePlus knows they can’t compete in such a red ocean like the Chinese market so they smartly aim for international market right from the beginning. Too bad for IUNI but this is just the obvious consequence.
That’s a shame. Got my U3 back in October 2014 and still use it every day. Great phone. It seems strange when they just re-branded recently and I would have thought all the costs are effectively “internal” to Gionee. Maybe it’s more of a re-organisation than a complete shutddown.
on the other hand there is a so called IUNI U4 leak http://news.mydrivers.com/1/482/482511.htm
which is obviously fan made
Given the timing that’s not certain. IUNI could have leaked it.
It is a Gionee sub-brand and Gionee should be doing fine so it goes away only if Gionee decides it failed to gain enough traction.
Speaking to Gionee at MWC this year it seemed IUNI were considered a bit of an inside joke.
If they are losing money for Gionee that decision is a very easy one to make. As for the supposed U4 leak, it looks like a photoshoped U3.
some updates http://news.mydrivers.com/1/482/482622.htm
lol the world doesn’t work like that. Almost any business will lose money at one time or another, that’s no reason to shut it down. Apple was losing money in 1997 when Jobs came back as CEO, Sony was losing money just last year,nobody would be standing if the world would work as you think.
lol, those companies aren’t even close to the same as IUNI. Neither of them are subsidiaries of other companies like IUNI is to Gionee. You have little clue how to real world works, you only know the mythical world in your head which often leaves the rest of us scratching our heads. Just like your pricing models for phones based on benchmarks that only makes sense to you.
In the real world companies divest themselves of subsidiaries all the time when they are losing money. Sony has closed the doors on several of their subsidiaries over the years because they were losing money. Some were sold to other companies, some were completely shut down. Happens in the Auto Industry as well, General Motors shut down Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and several other brands because of massive losses.
This is sad,the brand had way more promise than the flagship Gionee brand. It would’ve turned it what Oneplus turned into for oppo/bbk.
in a market where they launch dozen of phones, it’s hard to stay alive even in a billions country.
we will see this more often in near future, phone markets is in a stagnant period and there are no really innovations.
This is only a small part of the bigger story of severe Chinese overproduction capacity. Too many factories and too few buyers. It is only natural that some of them will eventually be allowed to fail.
It’s been a part of this industry for a long time, companies come and go. The smaller brands need to constantly innovate and hope they can carve out a small niche to survive.
This is what happens when you enter the race to the bottom but don’t finish the race to the bottom.
Good phones, good prices but poor management, no support for international market. OnePlus knows they can’t compete in such a red ocean like the Chinese market so they smartly aim for international market right from the beginning. Too bad for IUNI but this is just the obvious consequence.
their phones were good but maybe they could have tried making more for the budget section !
ap ne use kia?
nope … entered the game when IUNI were well over their peak by then. but heard good things about them nevertheless
u ?
lol. you never bought any of these phones but you do spend so much time about commenting on them.
because i have an idea of how these little things work 🙂
its basically what im studying …
I won’t even recommend you. After all khajal khuwari and tax they applied on my phone.
recommend what exactly ? IUNI phones ?
P.S : khajal khuwari means 😀 ?
hahaha, if you imported any phone then I will ask you what khajal khuwari means. anyway I wont recommend importing anything here.
i see 😀
actually no one buys so many phones even in China.
That’s a shame. Got my U3 back in October 2014 and still use it every day. Great phone. It seems strange when they just re-branded recently and I would have thought all the costs are effectively “internal” to Gionee. Maybe it’s more of a re-organisation than a complete shutddown.
Sad. I was thinking what had happened to them. I had an IUNI phone before and it was good. The UI was promising as well.
This is only a small part of the bigger story of severe Chinese overproduction capacity. Too many factories and too few buyers. It is only natural that some of them will eventually be allowed to fail.
It’s been a part of this industry for a long time, companies come and go. The smaller brands need to constantly innovate and hope they can carve out a small niche to survive.
their phones were good but maybe they could have tried making more for the budget section !
ap ne use kia?
nope … entered the game when IUNI were well over their peak by then. but heard good things about them nevertheless
u ?
lol. you never bought any of these phones but you do spend so much time about commenting on them.
actually no one buys so many phones even in China.
because i have an idea of how these little things work 🙂
its basically what im studying …
I won’t even recommend you. After all khajal khuwari and tax they applied on my phone.
recommend what exactly ? IUNI phones ?
P.S : khajal khuwari means 😀 ?
hahaha, if you imported any phone then I will ask you what khajal khuwari means. anyway I wont recommend importing anything here.
i see 😀
Sad. I was thinking what had happened to them. I had an IUNI phone before and it was good. The UI was promising as well.
When did iOcean go away, must have missed that
According to their Facebook page, July of 2015. The last thing they posted was
“From today, iocean Facebook page will be on vacations for 1 month.”
Also their website is no longer active.
Oh, that’s too bad
They made some very good phones, the X8 is still one of my favorite large screen phones.
Yea, that’s what I thought
that was basically their dying words …
@Gizchina:disqus wasnt the U3 a 801 smartphone instead of the listed 810 above?
i’m kinda sad tho..i actually liked their os a bit back on my oneplus and while i really wanted to give the phone a try they are usually pretty fast pretty outdated.
When did iOcean go away, must have missed that
According to their Facebook page, July of 2015. The last thing they posted was
“From today, iocean Facebook page will be on vacations for 1 month.”
Also their website is no longer active.
Oh, that’s too bad
that was basically their dying words …
They made some very good phones, the X8 is still one of my favorite large screen phones.
Yea, that’s what I thought
@Gizchina:disqus wasnt the U3 a 801 smartphone instead of the listed 810 above?
i’m kinda sad tho..i actually liked their os a bit back on my oneplus and while i really wanted to give the phone a try they are usually pretty fast pretty outdated.
Many years have passed and I have seen a lot of smartphones with 5,5″ , and IUNI U3 still is the best screen ratio:
* Height 14.5 cm (centimeters)
*Width 7.49 cm (centimeters)
Please give IUNI a big round of applause !!!
yep, really a great phone, and camera was really good, stab was really good on it (better than my Mi Note)
Many years have passed and I have seen a lot of smartphones with 5,5″ , and IUNI U3 still is the best screen ratio:
* Height 14.5 cm (centimeters)
*Width 7.49 cm (centimeters)
Please give IUNI a big round of applause !!!
yep, really a great phone, and camera was really good, stab was really good on it (better than my Mi Note)