Meizu, a prominent Chinese technology company, has recently made a significant strategic shift. The company on Sunday announced its decision to halt the development of new smartphones.
Instead, Meizu has chosen to focus its efforts on the development and creation of “tomorrow’s devices” driven by artificial intelligence (AI). By capitalizing on the potential of AI, the company is now embracing an “All in AI” approach.
This change appears to have been in the works for some time. Shen Ziyu, Chairman and CEO of Xingji Meizu Group, noted that in 2023, Meizu successfully transitioned from being solely a “mobile phone company” to becoming an “ecological group.”
Notably, Meizu has developed immersive multi-terminal experiences, shared core competencies with partners via its Unbounded Zhixing open platform, and saw its MYVU brand become a leader in AR glasses.
Shen also acknowledged changes in the smartphone market. He said consumers are now taking a longer time to upgrade (an average of 51 months), as phones across brands offer comparable performance in areas like smoothness, photography, and features.
In his view, smartphone innovation these days increasingly resembles a “stacked parameters” arms race – more memory, larger sensors, faster charging – alongside industry tactics such as trolling, revealing each other shortcomings to gain publicity.
As a result, Meizu has decided to step away from its smartphone business which also includes canceling the development of upcoming models like Meizu 21 Pro, Meizu 22, and Meizu 23.
Shen says the decision to move away from the smartphone business resonates with Meizu’s history.
In the past, the company famously abandoned its successful MP3 line amidst strong sales to embrace the growing smartphone market. Similarly, its development of MYVU smart glasses shows Meizu’s willingness to invest in future technology.
After two years of preparation, including team building, resource allocation, and product planning, Shein says Meizu is ready to fully embrace the AI field.
Plans include launching a new mobile operating system tailored for the AI era in 2024 and unveiling the first AI hardware product later this year.
Meizu reassures users that despite this strategic shift, support for existing Meizu products and services, including convenient access to offline stores throughout China, will remain unaffected.
Former Meizu executive Li Nan praised the company’s new strategy, emphasizing the necessity of change for future success. He dismissed AI features in other brands’ smartphones as mere “gimmicks” and endorsed Meizu’s bold move towards AI. Additionally, Meizu is working on “Open All Hardware For AI LLM,” promising further developments in this realm.
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