Meizu 22: An AI-Powered Compact Flagship, Can It Revive Meizu's Glory?

Meizu 22: An AI-Powered Compact Flagship, Can It Revive Meizu's Glory?On the 22nd anniversary of Meizu's founding, the highly anticipated Meizu 22 series is finally about to launch. Su Jing, CEO of Geely Holding Group's Starry Sky Meizu, recently confirmed in an interview that the Meizu 22 series will be released in July this year, emphasizing that the product can be called both a smartphone and an AIDevice

Meizu 22: An AI-Powered Compact Flagship, Can It Revive Meizu's Glory?

On the 22nd anniversary of Meizu's founding, the highly anticipated Meizu 22 series is finally about to launch. Su Jing, CEO of Geely Holding Group's Starry Sky Meizu, recently confirmed in an interview that the Meizu 22 series will be released in July this year, emphasizing that the product can be called both a smartphone and an AIDevice. This naming hints at the core selling point of the Meizu 22 series AI technology.

Looking back to February 18, 2024, Starry Sky Meizu announced the termination of new traditional smartphone projects, fully shifting to an "All In AI" strategy. Following this, the Meizu 22 series remained absent while other manufacturers released their new flagship phones. Now, after a long period of meticulous development, Starry Sky Meizu seems fully prepared for a strong comeback to the flagship smartphone market.

However, Meizu isn't simply using AI as a gimmick; it's positioning AI as the core direction of the phone's upgrade. Whether the "AIDevice" positioning is a marketing strategy or a genuine revolutionary technological breakthrough remains to be seen.

With just over three months until the launch of the Meizu 22 series, information about its specifications is scarce. Even the core processor SoC, whether it's the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Dimensity 9400, or Dimensity 9400+, remains unconfirmed. However, Zhang Yue, product marketing manager at Starry Sky Meizu, revealed during a live video connection with Wan Zhiqiang, general manager of the Starry Sky Meizu Group's market and brand department, that more than three new Meizu phones will be released this year, with the Meizu 22 focusing on a compact flagship design and a major update to the Flyme system.

This major Flyme system update will likely revolve around AI functionalities. At Starry Sky Meizu's spring media communication meeting in late March, Liao Qinghong, Meizu's chief operating officer, stated that over the past six months, Starry Sky Meizu has been conducting business around its "3+1" strategy (phones, AR glasses, smart cockpits, and AI), and will expand to multiple terminals, global markets, and more AI application scenarios. Starry Sky Meizu believes that phones remain the most crucial carriers for AI applications, followed by smart glasses and smart cockpits.

On the phone side, Meizu 22's AI capabilities may be similar to other flagship models, deeply integrating AI technology with the system to improve product efficiency and smoothness, and leveraging generative AI for question answering, office work, and image creation.

In terms of ecosystem development, Starry Sky Meizu will focus on smart glasses and smart cockpits. According to a report released by iResearch, "2024 Consumer-Grade AR Glasses Market Dynamics and Industry Trend Insights," Starry Sky Meizu secured a leading position in domestic AR glasses sales in 2024, second only to Ray-Ban, thanks to its StarVAir2 and StarVView products. Simultaneously, Starry Sky Meizu has already completed integrations with multiple AI platforms, including Tongyi Qianwen, Doubao, Ernie Bot, and DeepSeek; its AR glasses layout creates favorable conditions for expanding its AI ecosystem.

In the automotive field, Starry Sky Meizu has a significant advantage over other smartphone manufacturers. In contrast, it's more challenging for OPPO, vivo, and others to expand their automotive AI ecosystems due to a lack of in-house car manufacturing capabilities, requiring collaboration with carmakers for technology exchange and joint development. Xiaomi and Huawei, while deeply involved in car manufacturing, are new entrants with limited current production capacity and sales.

On March 11, Starry Sky Meizu announced that FlymeAuto added over 100,000 users in February, bringing the cumulative user count to over 600,000. Although FlymeAuto's user numbers are comparable to HarmonyOS, the monthly addition of over 100,000 users is unmatched by HarmonyOS. Leveraging the support of Geely Automobile, Starry Sky Meizu can easily integrate cars into its AI ecosystem.

Other smartphone manufacturers often face the problem of their automotive business lagging, but Starry Sky Meizu doesn't have this concern. Its focus should be on creating products that resonate with consumers.

With the growing demand for compact flagship phones, Meizu 22 aligns with this market trend, aiming to create a compact flagship. Currently, phones with screens under 6.5 inches can be considered compact flagships, but around 6.3 inches is the mainstream choice for Android manufacturers. For example, the Xiaomi 15 has a 6.36-inch screen, and the vivo X200 Pro mini has a 6.31-inch screen. The Meizu 22's screen size will likely be around 6.3 inches.

Software experience has always been a Meizu strength. There's a saying in the industry: "The best phone is Xiaomi hardware and pricing + Flyme." Starry Sky Meizu's forward-looking layout has given it a significant advantage in AR glasses and automobiles.

However, the smartphone industry is intensely competitive. Price wars and spec wars between Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo never cease. Whether relying solely on AI and a compact design can help Meizu's sales return to their peak remains uncertain.

Can the injection of capital from Geely Automobile bring about a turnaround for Meizu phones? Both phone and car companies place a high value on car-machine interconnection. Some phone manufacturers, such as Xiaomi and Huawei, are deeply involved in car manufacturing; others, like NIO, have entered the phone industry. However, due to the underperformance of the NIO Phone, NIO has decided to scale back its phone business, merging the phone team into the digital cockpit team.

The failure of the NIO Phone lies in the mismatch between its features and price, despite excellent car-machine integration. Meizu phones face a similar problem: their hardware specifications lag behind competitors in the same price range.

For example, compared to the Xiaomi 14, which is 600 yuan more expensive at launch with the same storage, the Meizu 21 has a significant gap in its camera capabilities. The Meizu 21 only boasts a 200-megapixel main camera, while its 13-megapixel ultrawide and 5-megapixel depth-of-field lenses seem inadequate. The Xiaomi 14, in addition to its flagship camera, features a 50-megapixel ultrawide and telephoto lens with 3.2x optical zoom.

Furthermore, the Meizu 21 only supports 80W wired charging and lacks wireless charging, while the Xiaomi 14 supports 90W wired and 50W wireless charging. There are also differences in screen quality and resolution. The Xiaomi 14 also has IP68 water resistance, while the Meizu 21 only offers basic splash resistance. Although the Meizu 21 is 600 yuan cheaper, for most consumers, spending an extra 600 yuan for the Xiaomi 14 is more worthwhile. Even compared to the Redmi K70 Pro, which is 400 yuan cheaper, the Meizu 21 doesn't have a significant advantage.

This gap arises because leading companies can reduce production costs through mass production and leverage their bargaining power to lower component procurement costs, resulting in lower overall phone costs and allowing them to equip their products with higher-end hardware. The lower sales of the NIO Phone and Meizu phones prevent them from achieving cost reductions through mass production and procurement, hindering their ability to compete on price with industry giants.

Fortunately, Meizu is now under the Geely Automobile umbrella and has proven its value through AR glasses and FlymeAuto, potentially securing more support from Geely. If Geely Automobile can provide more funding for Starry Sky Meizu to address shortcomings in areas like cameras and charging, enhancing product competitiveness, then Meizu's brand value and influence could allow it to make a comeback.

After all, Meizu phones were once renowned, rivaling Xiaomi. In 2016, Meizu phone sales exceeded 20 million units. Although Starry Sky Meizu's influence has declined after its transformation, many loyal "Meizu fans" still support the brand even when the Meizu 21 series' specifications are inferior to other similarly priced models.

If Meizu can match the specifications of competing flagship phones from OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi at the same price point, and leverage Flyme and AI technology, it is highly likely to attract more users. Simultaneously, owners of Geely vehicles equipped with FlymeAuto may switch to Meizu phones if the specifications and user experience are on par with mainstream brands, enabling smoother car-machine integration.

Surrounded by two generations of competitor flagships, Meizu 22 faces immense pressure. Meizu phones and the NIO Phone share a similar predicament, yet their internal situations differ greatly. Starry Sky Meizu has extensive experience and considerable influence in the smartphone industry, even during its sales slump around 2020, managing to maintain a strong brand image despite