Chinese consumer electronics brand Meizu has officially announced its withdrawal from the Android smartphone business. The company launched the Meizu 21 in China in November 2023, and now it may become the last traditional phone from the company to hit the market. The brand also revealed that it will now focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and develop software and hardware solutions around emerging technologies. It is worth noting that this is the second time Meizu has withdrawn from an existing business. The first time was in 2007, when Meizu no longer produced MP3 devices.

The news originally came from Meizu’s former marketing director Li Nan’s Weibo, and was later confirmed by Meizu’s official Weibo. video on its website. In the announcement, company CEO Shen Ziyu said changes in the smartphone market were the main reason behind the transformation. He noted that users now take an average of 51 months, or a little more than four years, to upgrade their smartphones.

Additionally, he highlighted that rival companies have also increased competition, as many now offer similar performance in terms of smoothness, photography, and software experience. He added that now the Chinese brand wants to “go all out” [on] Artificial Intelligence”. Now it will focus on terminal artificial intelligence devices and provide solutions in hardware and software.

In the future, Meizu will transform the Flyme OS of smartphones into an operating system for AI devices. It will also develop a new mobile operating system focused on artificial intelligence capabilities and enable smartphones to integrate artificial intelligence. Shen also mentioned devices like Humane’s AI Pin and Rabbit R1, hinting that it might experiment with different form factors. Additionally, the announcement also revealed that the Chinese consumer technology brand may launch its first artificial intelligence hardware later this year. No details were revealed about what it might be.

Meizu further stated that existing smartphones in China will continue to be supported and offline retail stores will not be affected. It is not yet certain whether smartphones in international markets will also support it. This makes the Meizu 21 the company’s last smartphone as it’s unclear whether it will return on the speculated Meizu 21 Pro or Meizu 22 series.