Chinese smartphone makers have been getting into all kinds of trouble lately, Huawei’s case being the latest. Today we received news about Gionee, another phone maker, that is declaring bankruptcy in China.
For those who don’t know, QMobile in Pakistan has been selling rebranded Gionee phones since the start. From the low-end phones to the slightly better ones, they’re always sourced from Gionee’s original phones.
Gionee has been having a bad year. The company filed for liquidation bankruptcy at Huaxing Bank, submitting its application to a court in Shenzhen, which has been accepted. This could result in a major restructuring as Gionee has hired restructuring consultants a week ago.
The company’s founder Liu Lirong is of the opinion that Gionee can bounce back within 3-5 years.
Gionee’s Debt Situation
To put things into perspective, the company currently owes CNY 20.2 billion (around $3 billion) to a total of 648 creditors in China. Half of those creditors are banks. Gionee hasn’t been able to pay its suppliers and ad agencies either.
An interesting and rather unfortunate development has worsened the companies finances as well. The company founder Liu lost a massive CNY 1 billion (~$144 million) that he bet in a casino recently. When asked about the source of his gambling money, he claimed that he hasn’t used the company’s money but may have “borrowed company funds”.
Liu further adds to this, saying that Gionee had been losing CNY 100 million (~$14.4 million) per month from 2013 to 2015, with the losses doubling over the past two years.
What Happens to QMobile?
This could also put the fate of QMobile in jeopardy if Gionee does indeed end up closing down its business in China. However, if the company does manage to survive and restructure within the next 3-5 years as Liu Lirong claimed, then we might still see QMobile phone launches over the next few years in Pakistan.
Even if QMobile is seemingly unaffected by Gionee’s bankruptcy, they still face stiff competition from the likes of Xiaomi, Honor, Infinix, and Meizu.
Update
We were contacted by a QMobile spokesperson who stated,
QMobile had stopped sourcing Gionee phones quite some time ago. QMobile has a large portfolio of phones and Gionee was only one of many suppliers. Gionee’s bankruptcy will have no effect on QMobile’s operations in Pakistan.
Via GSMArena
Lets hope it does put QMobile out of business. Though QMobile was my first local Smart phone, due to low cost, it is a major source of e-waste in Pakistan.
Bhai pagal hay kya?
Finally, Pakistani Ko QMobile Se Nijaad Hasil Howi :
QMobile KeyPad Mobile Was Best (But Not Like NOKIA Symbian) in SmarPhone QMobile failed to gain the Market due to Lack Marketing Team.
QMobile should also exit the business and their top management should be jailed… I have witnessed a lot of QMobile smartphones which stopped working after DIRBS implementation.. These thieves did a lot of IMEI tampering and duplication and most of their Smartphones are non tax paid and smuggled due to which their phones have now become useless for their customers.
Ye Bat : Due to These Reason QMobile now “Bankruptcy”
I think marketing e to inho ny ki hai shaid agar quality py thora focus kr laity to market main ye Huawei sy upar hoty. Same Huawei started with small models and now they are competing with Samsung etc.
QMobile Fault :
) No Build Quality
) No Better Camera
) No Standard RAM
) No Standard Processor
) No Android Update
) No OS Bugs Fix Update
) No Better Screen
) No EMUI Variant
) No No No No AnyThing.
QMobile Chahta to Huawei Ki Taarha Mid RANGE Main Launch KARTA :
Qmobile can just switch to a different chinese contractor. It won’t hurt their business. Besides Geonee isn’t closing down. It is being restructured so that means it’ll continue to operate.
Thank God.
They only spend their money on Bollywood celebrities for vulgar and illogical advertisement and not on quality of their phones.