Gionee filed for bankruptcy

Just last 2012, Gionee is a smartphone brand with a 4.7 percent of the Chinese mobile market share. It is an estimate of over 6.3 million units sold in China alone during the said period.

Gionee with Ellen Adarna

They even expanded to key markets like India, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines, and Algeria.

In the Philippines, Gionee gained popularity after hiring Ellen Adarna, a popular Filipina TV personality to endorse the brand. They even had the Elife S5.5, the slimmest phone in the world at that time.

The end of Gionee?

Fast forward in 2018, the company has officially entered bankruptcy. A court in Shenzhen, China already accepted the company's application for bankruptcy by Huaxing Bank.

Gionee owes a total of CNY 20.2 billion or around USD 3 billion to 648 creditors. Reports said that about half of that debt is to the banks. They even failed to pay suppliers and ad agencies this year.

Liu even stated that the company was losing around CNY 100 million (USD 14.4 million) a month between 2013 and 2015 which doubled in the last two years.

The worst part, their founder, Liu Lirong lost the around CNY 1 billion (USD 144 million) money which "he borrowed from the company" to a casino!

But, this may still lead to a company reorganization. Gionee reportedly hired restructuring consultants last week. Liu Lirong thinks that the company can turn its fortunes around in around 3 to 5 years.

Let's see!

Sources: GSMArena, Phoenix Finance