Meizu, a popular Chinese consumer electronics brand, has decided to shut down its smartphone business. The company will now focus on the AI segment and will develop software and hardware to cater to the AI segment. Meizu confirmed this news via. Weibo and later published a video on its website.
Shen Ziyu, Chairman and CEO of Xingji Meizu Group, also noted a few reasons for this decision. Smartphone users have an average of 51 months to upgrade their phones. Market competition is also high.
Meizu will now modify Flyme OS and will make it an OS for AI devices. Flyme OS will get AI features and will help smartphone bands integrate AI. The company confirmed that its first AI hardware is coming later this year.
Meizu 21 was the last smartphone from the company launched back in November 2023. So, there will be no Meizu 21 Pro or Meizu 22 series.
This is the second time Meizu is exiting a business. It moved away from manufacturing MP3 devices in 2007. Now it is moving away from the smartphone business.
Meizu launched its first smartphone back in 2007 and the phone had a design similar to the iPhone. The device was running a custom OS based on Windows CE. The phone was doing good in China until Apple decided to sue Meizu design patent infringement. After a gap of 4 years, the company launched its first Android phone Meizu M9 in 2011. In later years, the company saw a good success.
Chinese automaker Geely acquired a majority stake in Meizu in July 2022. Geely wanted to use Meizu’s expertise in making smart cars.
