Meizu
, the Chinese consumer electronics company best known for its
Android smartphones
, has announced that it would no longer develop “traditional smartphones” and instead go “all in on AI” after manufacturing mobile phones for almost two decades.
Meizu started in 2007, and in 2022,
Geely
, the Chinese automaker, acquired majority stakes in the company.
The company’s chairman and CEO, Shen Ziyu, said in a video statement released on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that the average smartphone user now goes 51 months before upgrading their device due to incremental improvements in smoothness, photography, and software features amongst competitors. He also cited fierce market competition and less room for innovation.
Its most recent device, the
Meizu 20 series
, which launched last year in March, will be its last. The company cancelled plans for future phones in those product lines, including the Meizu 21, 22, and Meizu 23 series.
Meizu will continue to support existing devices with software updates and honor after-sales service promises. It is unknown if support includes smartphones sold outside mainland China.
The China-based company will redirect resources toward research and development of
AI
software and hardware products, including a new AI-based mobile operating system to replace Flyme OS. Meizu’s technology will also power smart products from Geely Group, its parent automotive company that owns the
Polestar
, Lotus and Volvo car brands.
“Meizu will build an ecosystem to fully open its AI devices to leading global LLM providers, including OpenAI, to jointly promote AI innovation and development,” the company said.
Meizu plans to release a “new mobile OS,” which is said to be centred around AI and is scheduled to come later this year. Along with this, new hardware will also be launched later in the year.
English (US) ·