Chinese smartphone maker Meizu issued a statement today denying recent bankruptcy rumors but confirming a major strategic shift — suspending all new domestic smartphone hardware. In January 2026, the company’s CMO said the Meizu 22 Air was canceled due to soaring memory costs. Founded in 2003, Meizu first dominated China’s MP3 player market before successfully pivoting to smartphones in 2009 with the M8, the first Chinese-made smartphone. The M9 release in 2011 sparked long lines and cemented its place as a pioneer before the rise of Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo. In 2022, Geely, which also owns Volvo, acquired Meizu mainly for its Flyme operating system. Outsider’s comment : Just a week ago, a photo post on Xiaohongshu(RedNotes) showing an audio guide at the Seville Cathedral in Spain still bearing the Meizu logo — a small reminder of how far the brand once reached. Yet rising memory prices were only the final straw. Geely’s 2022 acquisition reflected a common pattern of acquisition: picking up the most valuable piece of a fading brand. Meizu’s hardware had already lost ground, but its Flyme OS remained the brand’s most valuable asset.
Meizu denies bankruptcy rumors but halts new in-house smartphone hardware projects
Source (in Chinese): qz-l.com/zJZueI
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