Meizu Announces Exit from Smartphone Market, Fans Frantically Buy Meizu 22 as Mementos

The end has arrived.

Meizu has announced the suspension of its self-developed hardware projects for domestic smartphone new products. In plain terms: they're done making phones.

The official language calls it a "strategic transformation" — shifting from hardware-led to AI-driven software, with the Flyme open ecosystem at its core, and so on. It sounds like an old character who couldn't win in a group fight and decided to respec as a mage. Whether they can win that way is another question entirely; first, put down the sword, then talk.

Once the announcement dropped, the market reaction was telling. Sales of the Meizu 22 surged that same day — one phone shop owner revealed selling over a dozen units in a single day. In Meizu's official JD.com store, loyal users rushed to place orders. Someone left a comment: "Buying this to commemorate the youth that's passed, keeping it as a memento. Wishing Meizu all the best after the transformation."

I've seen this kind of farewell before.

That said, this move from Meizu isn't surprising. When the M8 came out in 2009, it was one of the few domestic smartphones that had real character. The emotional bond those early fans built was genuine. It's just that by 2026, with memory prices at historic highs and the surviving market this brutally competitive, sometimes you simply can't hold on any longer.

The Meizu 23 won't be coming to market anytime soon.

There's no shame in admitting defeat. But whether the transformation succeeds — that's a whole different game.