China's No 2 to No 4 smartphone vendors have formed a rare partnership for data transfer among their handsets, a move seen by analysts as an alliance strategy to compete with the No 1 player Huawei Technologies Co which has just posted a record high market share in the domestic market.

Vivo has the fifth-highest shipment volume among global smartphone manufacturers according to IDC’s 2017 first-quarter report. Vivo has been expanding its global research and development (R&D) capabilities, with a focus on 5G technologies and integrating them into its cutting-edge smartphones.