SHANGHAI — Chinese language electrical automobile model Nio on Thursday launched an Android smartphone, which the corporate expects a minimum of half its customers to purchase, CEO William Li informed CNBC in an unique interview forward of the launch.

The cellphone, priced from round $900 to $1,000, is an Android machine that is about $150 cheaper versus a comparable Huawei cellphone, Li mentioned in Mandarin.

He informed CNBC that amongst Nio customers from which the corporate makes a revenue, greater than half are iPhone customers, whereas the opposite half makes use of flagship Android telephones from Huawei and different manufacturers.

“I consider this portion of customers are very possible to make use of this new kind [of device] when they’re altering their telephones,” Li mentioned in keeping with a CNBC translation, citing the cellphone’s total efficiency and automobile connectivity.

Nio is the primary high-end Chinese language electrical automobile model to launch its personal smartphone, which Li mentioned the corporate developed in a few 12 months. Electrical automobile firms in China have sought to make in-car leisure and cell phone connectivity a promoting level for his or her autos.

Supply begins on Sept. 28, with orders beginning instantly.

Swedish electrical automobile maker Polestar, which counts China as a serious market, informed CNBC earlier this month it plans to launch a cellphone in December.

Smartphone firms Apple and Xiaomi have lengthy been reportedly engaged on their very own automobiles.

Lower than two years in the past, Huawei launched the Aito model, which sells electrical automobiles in China which are built-in with the smartphone firm’s working system. Huawei additionally sells its in-car software program to different electrical automobile firms equivalent to Avatr and BAIC’s Arcfox.

That connectivity permits drivers to sync their private machine settings — equivalent to for music — with the automobile. Nio additionally has a standalone cell app.

Whereas the brand new Nio machine resembles a typical smartphone, it comes with a particular button that acts as a key for the automobile, Li informed CNBC on Wednesday.

The Nio smartphone additionally permits customers to attach extra seamlessly with the automobile, equivalent to when transitioning between the cellphone and the car throughout on-line conferences, he mentioned.

The brand new machine is a chance for Nio to earn more money per person.

“We pay extra consideration to the worth that every person brings to our total model, and it’s extra handy to attach customers. Additionally it is extra environment friendly than earlier than,” Li mentioned. “What we’re pursuing is the automobile expertise and the emotional expertise we will present to our customers.”

The cellphone is offered to all shoppers in China, not simply those that personal Nio automobiles, Li added.

He identified that the Nio cellphone app has 600,000 lively customers a day, about 1.5-times the variety of automobile customers.

Nio’s month-to-month deliveries rose to round 20,000 in August and July, after a decline in supply quantity the prior three months.

Within the second quarter ended June 30, Nio reported that income from the “different gross sales” class was primarily pushed by a lift within the gross sales of used automobiles, equipment and energy providers, which greater than doubled from a 12 months in the past to 1.59 billion yuan ($217.86 million) regardless of a decline in complete income.

The corporate attributed the year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter enhance in different gross sales to “continued development of our customers.”

Nonetheless, Nio would not have plans to launch the smartphone in Europe — a minimum of not till the market grows bigger, Li mentioned.

Nio is in 5 nations in Europe, together with Germany, and the corporate wants time to give attention to growing native automobile providers, Li mentioned, noting these are necessary for auto merchandise.

When requested in regards to the European Union’s anti-subsidy probe into Chinese language EVs, Li mentioned the corporate was nonetheless studying the small print.

It is extra necessary for the world to cooperate, particularly on addressing local weather points, he added.

“I do not assume anybody ought to block customers from utilizing good merchandise by means of a number of methods” equivalent to investigations, he mentioned.

In China, the penetration of latest vitality autos has expanded shortly, however an total slowdown in financial development has weighed in the marketplace.

Competitors within the home electrical automobile market is “fierce,” Li mentioned, noting challenges for trade friends as nicely.

However he expects enterprise investments will assist Nio create obstacles to entry. “We consider time remains to be on Nio’s aspect,” Li mentioned.

He famous the corporate spends about $500 million on analysis and improvement each quarter. Different main areas of funding for the corporate, he mentioned, are battery charging and improvement of a mass market model.

Nio beforehand mentioned it plans to launch a car within the second half of subsequent 12 months underneath the mass market model “Alps.”

The corporate has confronted financing challenges greater than as soon as since its founding in late 2014. Earlier this 12 months, Nio mentioned it was delaying some spending plans as a result of lackluster deliveries.

However the firm subsequently obtained almost $740 million from an Abu Dhabi-backed fund. Nio additionally introduced this week a refinancing plan for a portion of its debt.