DONGGUAN, China, Oct. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — September 2025 marks vivo’s 30th anniversary. Together with Fortune Magazine, vivo co-produced a short documentary, “Answer the Call”, revealing how a user-oriented philosophy, market-by-market strategy and early bets on imaging and AI transformed it from landline OEM to global smartphone mainstay.
Three decades can witness the rise and fall of tech brands. vivo has already outlasted two technological cycles—and is now China’s only phone brand to have thrived through the landline, feature phone and smartphone eras. Fortune asks what kept it alive. “We must focus on creating products that users truly need,” said Hu Baishan, vivo’s Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer.
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Hu Baishan was interviewed inside the vivo flagship store by Clay Chandler, Executive Editor, Asia, at Fortune Magazine
In 2012, vivo X1, 6.55 mm thick and the first phone with a Hi-Fi chip, answered young consumers who wanted slim design and studio-grade music on the move. In 2020, the ZEISS partnership answered the shift to mobile photography, adding professional optics and colour science to the camera stack. User-oriented thinking also drives accessibility for all: AI features on current models help users with impairments to better hear and see.
Global growth follows the same rule. “First More Local, then More Global,” Hu told Fortune, during his visit in Bangkok, Thailand. The “Four-Season Portrait” mode that adds snowfall to tropical street scenes is beloved in Thailand.
While Thailand is serving as the pilot for vivo’s premium brand building, Indonesia also stands out as a model for local production and local talent empowerment. Indonesia’s plant, built in 2015, operates on 80% local staff. Local engineers trained in China and now help scale complex tasks like the mass production of foldable phones locally.
By 2027, more than two-thirds of vivo phones will be sold outside China. The target is backed by a premium push. This October, the X300 and X300 Pro will be launched both in China and the global markets, bringing OriginOS to international users for the first time. Ahead of them, the limited-edition V60—co-styled with POP MART’s Zsiga and armed with a 50 MP Super-Telephoto—has already lit up Gen-Z collectors across emerging markets.
vivo V60 series
At the anniversary event, vivo also introduced its first MR headset, vivo Vision Discovery Edition. “Our MR is a good intermediate carrier between smartphones and robots,” Hu said. “Coupled with large-model capabilities, it effectively becomes the eyes and brain of future robots.” The device will enter overseas concept stores for user feedback and further upgrades before commercial launch.
vivo Vision Discovery Edition
As vivo steps into its fourth decade, the company is poised to continue its trajectory. “First, we must clearly understand the future trends of industry development – what the right things to do are, then comes doing things right,” Hu noted. Guided by the user-oriented philosophy, vivo continues to listen to the world, and answer the call of the future.
Watch the documentary film “Answer the Call” here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfgqURHtMl0
About vivo
vivo is a technology company that creates great products based on a design-driven value, with smart devices and intelligent services as its core. The company aims to build a bridge between humans and the digital world. Through unique creativity, vivo provides users with an increasingly convenient mobile and digital life. Following the company’s core values, which include Benfen*, user-orientation, design-driven value, continuous learning and team spirit, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy with the vision of developing into a healthier, more sustainable world-class corporation.
While bringing together and developing the best local talents to deliver excellence, vivo is supported by a network of R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an and more cities, focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, imaging system and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set up an intelligent manufacturing network (including those authorized by vivo), with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 60 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 500 million users worldwide.
*”Benfen” is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right – which is the ideal description of vivo’s mission to create value for society.
Stay informed of latest vivo news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news
