Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has invested $590 million in a little known Chinese phone maker Meizu Technology Co., Ltd.

Based in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Meizu is said to be one of the top ten smartphone manufacturers in China and sold 1.5 million smartphones in January 2015.

Although primarily focused on its local market in China, the company has expanded to other countries with a presence in both the Russian and Israeli markets. It went on sale in France and Italy in the first half of 2014 and was planning to go on sale in the United States later in 2015.

Alibaba said in a statement that it will hold a minority stake in Meizu, and that the two companies will work to pair Alibaba’s mobile operating system and e-commerce technology onto Meizu’s phones. The Chinese retail tech giant also said that it would also sell Meizu phones and other devices through its online marketplaces.

“The investment in Meizu represents a significant expansion of the Alibaba Group ecosystem and an important step in our overall mobile strategy,” Alibaba Group CTO Jian Wang said.

Reuters compares the move by Alibaba to Amazon, in that Alibaba has in the past concentrated on software and services like Amazon, but is now undergoing a foray into smartphones and set-top boxes, like Amazon with the Fire Phone and Fire TV.

Meizu’s last round of funding was $300 million on a $3 billion valuation in July 2014.

Meizu’s main competition includes Apple Inc, Xiaomi, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd