Chinese tech company Meizu has announced a major strategic shift – it’s moving away from the smartphone market to focus on AI.
In a Weibo post, Meizu revealed it will restructure its FlymeOS team to work on new AI-powered devices. This will leverage large language models like OpenAI.
Meizu has been diversifying lately, including creating an in-car software system called Flyme Auto for Geely vehicles. But smartphones have become less profitable with lengthening upgrade cycles.
The company’s CEO explained how the industry has commoditized, making it hard to differentiate. So Meizu sees AI as the future and will go “all in” on it.
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There will be no successor models to the Meizu 21 series flagship phones. Instead, Meizu plans to launch a new AI-focused mobile OS in 2024 and release its first AI hardware product later this year.
Meizu will continue supporting its existing smartphones, at least for Chinese users. But the move signals the end of an era as the company exits the hyper-competitive mobile device market. Its know-how in software and hardware integration will now be directed entirely towards AI.