vivo and ZEISS Enter Global Partnership for Mobile Imaging

Spark Ni, Senior Vice President & CMO of vivo (left) and Joerg Schmitz, Head of ZEISS Consumer Products (right), announce global imaging partnership
  • Under the strategic collaboration, vivo and ZEISS will co-engineer an imaging system for vivo’s premium smartphones, starting with the upcoming vivo X60 series
  • The companies have unveiled plans to establish a joint R&D program – vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab – and will launch a “vivo ZEISS Master Photography” campaign

COLOMBO / Sri Lanka, Dec. 17, 2020 – Today vivo and ZEISS announced a long-term strategic partnership to jointly promote and develop breakthrough innovations in mobile imaging technology. The first “vivo ZEISS co-engineered imaging system” will be featured in the vivo X60 series.

As part of the collaboration agreement, vivo and Zeiss will establish the vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab, a joint R&D program to innovate mobile imaging technology for vivo’s flagship smartphones. The strategic, multi-faceted collaboration is designed to allow vivo, one of the largest global smartphone makers with deep consumer insight and integrated imaging capabilities, and ZEISS, a global leader in optics and opto-electronics and a pioneer in the field of professional and mobile imaging, to build on each other’s strengths and advance mobile photography technology.

In addition to the joint R&D program, the companies will launch the “vivo ZEISS Master Photography” campaign to promote the vivo ZEISS co-engineered imaging system and to inspire users to enjoy their creativity with vivo’s flagship smartphones.

Executives from vivo and ZEISS elaborate strategic partnership at the event.

“Through the partnership, ZEISS imaging technology will be enjoyed by much more consumers. Based on the synergy and complementarity of optical expertise and new digital technologies, vivo and ZEISS intend to make the strategic collaboration a starting point to create new opportunities for mobile imaging, enable more creativity, so as to support the long-term and healthy development of the entire industry,” said Spark Ni, Senior Vice President and CMO of vivo.

“The partnership between vivo and ZEISS is all about mobile imaging,” said Joerg Schmitz, Head of ZEISS Consumer Products. “The breadth of ZEISS’s decades-long expertise with optical technologies and imaging will enable vivo to enhance the imaging performance of its flagship smartphones.”

In the past 25 years, vivo has gained a deep understanding of consumers’ differentiated needs through comprehensive research. With constant consumer insight-driven R&D and innovation efforts, vivo has developed generations of mobile products favored and trusted by consumers. In the era of smartphone photography, vivo has anticipated the strong demands of global consumers for mobile imaging innovations. As a result, vivo considers imaging innovation to be one of the most important areas for serving consumers’ needs in the long term. To date, vivo has established image R&D centers globally employing more than 700 R&D staff.

Spark Ni, Senior Vice President & CMO of vivo (left) and Maximilian Foerst, President of ZEISS Greater China (right) at the vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab official launch.

vivo and ZEISS share the same goals, with an allied focus on premium technology and cutting-edge design. This exemplary mutual compatibility will pave the way for breakthrough innovations, defining a solid foundation which will shape this ongoing strategic global imaging partnership.

Collaboration between vivo and ZEISS is a milestone case for future mobile imaging. Both parties will work together to facilitate mobile imaging focused on complementary capabilities. On the one hand, ZEISS’ optical technologies and expertise would significantly improve the optical performance of mobile imaging, taking mobile optical imaging of vivo’s flagship smartphones to a new level. On the other hand, vivo, with 380 million users worldwide, has a strong understanding of consumer preferences in mobile imaging. With joint development and co-engineering of optical components with ZEISS, combined with vivo’s integrated imaging capabilities, vivo will provide consumers worldwide with a more appealing, easier-to-use, and more professional mobile photography experience.