Meizu, a renowned Chinese technology company, recently made a significant strategic shift. The company announced its decision to stop developing new smartphones. Meizu has decided to focus its efforts on developing and creating “devices of tomorrow” controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). Harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence, the company is now taking an “All in AI” approach.
This change seems to have been in the works for some time. Shen Jiyu, Chairman and CEO of Xingji Meizu Group, noted that in 2023, Meizu has successfully transformed itself from solely a “mobile communication company” into an “ecological group.” Notably, Meizu has developed an engaging multi-terminal experience, shared core competencies with partners through its open platform Unbounded Zhixing, and seen its MyVU brand become a leader in AR glasses.
Shen also acknowledged changes in the smartphone market. He said consumers now take longer to upgrade (51 months on average) as phones from different brands offer comparative performance in areas such as smoothness, photography and features.
In his view, smartphone innovation these days increasingly resembles an arms race on “aggregate parameters” – more memory, bigger sensors, faster charging – along with industry tactics such as trolling, exposing each other’s shortcomings to gain publicity. As a result, Meizu has decided to pivot away from its smartphone business, which also includes canceling the development of future models such as Meizu 21 Pro, Meizu 22 and Meizu 23.
Shen says the decision to move away from the smartphone business echoes Meizu’s story. In the past, the company has famously abandoned its successful MP3 line amid strong sales to cater to the growing smartphone market. Also, the development of MYVU smart glasses demonstrates Meizu’s willingness to invest in future technologies.
After two years of preparation, including team building, resource allocation and product planning, Shane 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 assures users that despite this strategic change, support for existing Meizu products and services, including convenient access to offline stores across China, will remain unchanged.
Former Meizu executive Li Nan praised the company’s new strategy, noting the need for changes for future success. He dismissed artificial intelligence features in other brands’ smartphones as mere “gimmicks” and praised Meizu’s bold move towards artificial intelligence. In addition, Meizu is working on “Open all hardware for AI LLM”, promising further developments in this area.
