Reporter Chen Jialan reports from Wuhan.
On November 30, Meizu Group launched the Meizu 21 series, a new generation of smart smartphones, two smart AR glasses Myvu Discovery Edition and Myvu, as well as the Unbounded Ecosystem FlymeOS, Handcar Interconnection Solution Flyme Link, and Unbounded Zhixing Open Platform. In addition to the release of Unbounded Zhixing, Meizu also announced that it will soon "build a car".
On March 8 this year, the Meizu Group, which was formed by the integration of Xingji Times and Meizu Technology, was announced, and at that time, Meizu Xingji determined the three main business lines of "mobile phones, XR and smart cars".
Shen Ziyu, chairman and CEO of Meizu, told China Business News at the time that the revival of Meizu brand mobile phones and consumer electronics products, as well as the development of the Flyme system (a new generation of unbounded ecosystem) and Flyme Auto for the travel technology ecologyXR is mainly responsible for the development and development of XR technology track-related products.
In June this year, Meizu and Polestar announced the establishment of a new joint venture to officially launch the smart electric vehicle business. On November 30, Shen Ziyu announced at the Unbounded Ecology Conference that Meizu has built three main business structures: smart phones, smart glasses, XR, and smart cars.
What is the progress of entering the TOP5 in the domestic mid-to-high-end market?
On March 30 this year, the Meizu brand launched the Meizu 20 series of mobile phones, and set a goal to enter the top 5 in the domestic mid-to-high-end market within three years.
On November 30, Meizu launched a new generation of mobile phones Meizu 21 series, equipped with the third-generation Snapdragon 8 mobile platform and the introduction of the Flyme AI large model, priced at 3399 yuan to 3999 yuan.
According to Canalys data, the sales volume of about 1.5 million units shipped per quarter can be squeezed into the top five in the domestic mid-to-high-end market.
Shen Ziyu revealed, "Meizu's mobile phone shipments this year have increased by 218% year-on-year. At present, in order to reverse the situation of Apple's dominance, domestic brands have generally laid out the dual flagship strategy of "straight flagship + folding screen flagship" to focus on the mid-to-high-end market. For Meizu, it is still a challenge to enter the mid-to-high-end mainstream market in China within three years.
Shen Ziyu also said frankly in an interview with China Business News: "The mid-to-high-end market is indeed difficult, but only when we have a foothold in the mid-to-high-end market can we do more scientific and technological things, and due to the high price, we can also make more products. Meizu does not have many SKUs, unlike its friend Xiaomi with Redmi, for this reason, Meizu's idea is to still focus on a single track for a period of time to polish the product. ”
When talking about how Meizu mobile phones can develop the mid-to-high-end mobile phone market, Shen Ziyu said that the overall industrial design of Meizu mobile phones is very craftsman-spirited, which is a differentiation, and the interconnection of vehicles and machines is an advantage.
In the field of wearable devices, Meizu released the AR smart glasses brand MyVu, and launched two new all-weather fashion AR smart glasses products, MyVU Discovery Edition and MyVU. Among them, the myvu exploration version is priced at 9999 yuan, and the myvu price is 2499 yuan.
Myvu is equipped with the newly released Flyme AR operating system, which is also the industry's first AR operating system for mobile-level interactive experience, migrating mobile high-frequency applications to the glasses side, and will realize hands-free instant messaging, AI intelligent assistant, continuous navigation of multiple travel modes, and instant translation support for multiple Chinese.
At present, smart phones are already very homogeneous, and if Meizu still does the same thing, it will be difficult to break through, so it needs to do a deep exploration in product interaction. In the future, AR will subvert the way users interact with consumer terminals and bring multiple changes, so AR is a good development opportunity for Meizu. Shen Ziyu said that Meizu Group has invested in AR for three years, and Meizu will continue to increase investment in the XR track in the future and continue to iterate new products.
In terms of channel layout, in April this year, Meizu opened the world's first store in Wuhan, marking the official launch of the "Three-Year Thousand Store Plan". The reporter learned that in the past six months, the plan has built more than 300 retail outlets and more than 400 service outlets.
Meizu has established the goal of 1,000 stores in three years, and 2023 is the first year, which requires a gradual process. Shen Ziyu said frankly that the main sales of Meizu mobile phones this year still come from online, and it still needs to be rebuilt offline channels.
Talking about the high price of AR products, Shen Ziyu also took the high price of Apple's Vision Pro as an example, saying that the first chain and industrial chain of the headset industry are still in their infancy, so the overall price is high. However, as more companies join in, it will promote the development of related ** chains, and Meizu will continue to do it for each generation.
In Shen Ziyu's view, Apple's first headset Vision Pro is mass-produced and sold, and many first-class companies will also follow Apple for research and development, which will greatly promote the process of scientific and technological development. "Wearable AI hardware driven by AI large models must be the future outlet, and next, Meizu will also increase investment in research and development in this field. Shen Ziyu said.
Announcing the ambition of building a car
In June this year, Meizu and Polestar announced the establishment of a new joint venture with a 5% stake in PolestarOS, which will be based on PolestarOS, the operating system of Meizu FlymeAuto. In addition, Meizu Group will also serve as the only authorized sales and service channel for Polestar in the Chinese mainland market.
This time, Meizu not only upgraded Flyme to the FlymeOS ecosystem, but also named FlymeOS as "Unbounded OS" and launched the Unbounded Zhixing Open Platform, and its ambitions in the automotive industry have also been revealed. In addition to the release of Unbounded Zhixing, Meizu also announced that it will soon "build a car", and will combine a series of manufacturing capabilities of Geely Automobile Group to create the first Dreamcar, Meizu DreamCar MX. The new car will be deeply customized by the user, including a large number of personalized details such as defining the livery, interior, and car theme.
Shen Ziyu told reporters that at present, Polestar is a major business in the consolidated statements of Meizu Group, Meizu will empower many automobile companies, and using software to empower the car Lynk & Co 08 is the first step, and Meizu will launch Meizu custom cars in 2024. At that time, Meizu will not only assume the role of software synergy, but also customize the interior and styling of the car, and realize sales in Meizu channels.
From the perspective of the Meizu brand, we will go deeper and deeper in the automotive industry in the future, like the HI model of our friend Huawei, and now it is the world of questions and wisdom. Our core competencies are intelligent capabilities, interactive experience, Flymeos and AI base to empower automotive companies, which is our original intention. Shen Ziyu said.
It is worth noting that Xingji Meizu Group has just completed 2 billion yuan of angel + round and A round of financing. Shen Ziyu revealed that a large amount of funds in the 2 billion yuan financing will be invested in product research and development, and only by making competitive products and technologies can we ensure competitiveness in the industry.
Editor: Wu Qing Proofreader: Liu Jun).