Meizu Will No Longer Produce Smartphones; Focus Shifting into AI-powered Flyme Ecosystem

Friday, 27 February 2026 at 03:58

After more than two decades in the smartphone business, Meizu is officially stepping away from making phones. The news, first shared by well-known tipster Smart Pikachu, confirms that the company has suspended new smartphone hardware projects and will pivot toward artificial intelligence and its Flyme ecosystem.

Meizu Smartphones Are Gone, Flyme Will Be Reborn as an AI-Centric Ecosystem

The announcement marks the end of an era. Founded in 2003, Meizu built a loyal following with devices that balanced clean design, competitive specs, and its custom Android skin, Flyme OS. Over the years, the brand carved out a niche in China’s fiercely competitive market, even as rivals like Xiaomi, Huawei, and Oppo scaled aggressively.

According to the shared statement, development of new Meizu-branded smartphones has been halted. Instead, the company will focus on AI-driven products and expanding the Flyme ecosystem into a broader, AI-centric platform. While smartphone hardware is being paused, AI-powered smart devices will continue. The message emphasizes transformation rather than collapse. In fact, Meizu goes through a strategic reset aimed at long-term sustainability.

The Challenging Market Puts Meizu on a New Journey

The shift reflects wider industry pressures. China’s smartphone market has become brutally competitive, with shrinking margins and slower upgrade cycles. For smaller players, survival increasingly depends on differentiation or ecosystem expansion. Meizu appears to have chosen the latter.

We have to say that, years ago, Meizu was anything but a small player. The brand was one of the most relevant in China, competing with Xiaomi toe to toe for the mid-range market. Unfortunately, it failed to keep pace over the years.

The brand teased a return in the last year's MWC, wth the Meizu 22 being its last attempt in the competitive segment.

From the old Meizu, only Flyme is being kept. Flyme is expected to evolve beyond a mobile operating system into a cross-device AI experience. The company is positioning “Flyme + AI” as its new core, potentially integrating software, smart mobility, and other connected devices under one umbrella.

Key Points:

Meizu has officially stopped developing new smartphones.
The report was shared by tipster Smart Pikachu.
All new Meizu-branded mobile phone hardware projects are currently suspended.
The company will shift its focus toward artificial intelligence products.
Flyme will evolve into a broader AI-centric ecosystem rather than just a smartphone OS.
AI-powered smart devices will continue to be developed and released.
The move signals a strategic transformation, not a bankruptcy or shutdown.
Meizu is repositioning itself around “Flyme + AI” for long-term growth.

For longtime fans, the news is bittersweet. Meizu phones once stood out for their minimalist hardware and thoughtful software touches. Now, the brand is betting that its future lies not in competing handset-for-handset, but in building an AI ecosystem that extends far beyond the smartphone.

Whether this reinvention succeeds remains to be seen — but Meizu’s chapter as a smartphone maker has officially closed.