With the MTK price of 1799 yuan, Meizu will no longer be able to stand out

After watching the new product launch of Meizu MX4 in front of my computer, I was in deep thought for about five minutes. Compared with the various highlights of Meizu's previous launch events, this time I only remembered the price of 1799 yuan. When Meizu also uses price to attract attention, I feel that this era may end here.

People say: There is no China after the Song Dynasty, and there is no China after the Ming Dynasty. But what I want to say is that after MX3, Meizu has no style anymore. It bowed to the reality.

Perhaps the Meizu brand can regain its youth in the current fiercely competitive mobile phone industry, but the true spirit of the word "Meizu" has disappeared! When Meizu, which has lost its style, faces the pursuit and blockade of Shenzhen's third- and fourth-tier brands, when it finds that now is not the best time to lick the operators, when it falls into the abyss of price wars, will it regret today's transformation?

The real craftsman sentiment is Huang Zhang

When I heard a "crosstalk artist" who specializes in talking about feelings label himself as an expert who loves products, a short and thin figure emerged in my mind. It was this figure who tinkered with the first domestic Meizu MP3 using the top chip PHILIPS PNX0102 in 2005. It was also this figure who, against all odds, took WINCE for secondary development and launched its own OS system when entering the smartphone industry in 2008. It was also this figure who created its own Meizu style when the M9 was launched in 2010, and later the real MX series products - the first, second, third and fourth generations.

He is the founder of Meizu, the industry's most famous chairman-level product manager, nicknamed "J.Wong" - Huang Zhang.

I think this is a product expert who can truly be called a "craftsman". Meizu's smartphones have always used Samsung's Orion CPU series. Others don't know how many technical difficulties they have to overcome, but Huang Zhang supports everything. Let the MX series products use the best screens. Others don't know how much the cost will increase compared to ordinary components, but Huang Zhang still supports it. Choose the back shell products with the best feel. How much money will be invested in the mold opening and testing? Huang Zhang waved his pen and said, "We will pay for it, as long as the effect can meet our requirements..."

These users don’t understand. They just see that the Meizu phones made by Huang Zhang are like works of art and are recognized in the industry as the brand with the best workmanship. It was not until vivo and OPPO emerged that the word "one of" was added.

This is what I saw of Meizu. Although it was a niche brand, although it was full of Huang Zhang's arrogance, and although it was branded with J.Wong's imprint all over, its characteristics also attracted a large number of like-minded "Meizu fans", a group of Meizu fans who pursued individuality and excellent quality. They were a unique landscape in the Chinese mobile phone circle, and were known as the two major fan groups in the Chinese mobile phone industry together with Xiaomi's Mi fans.

From now on, Meizu will no longer have any style

Looking back at the MX4 launch conference, I am worried about the future of Meizu. This worry is not only about the product and industry competition, but also about the possibility of the continuation of the Meizu spirit.

First of all, its CPU uses the MTK series commonly used in the mass market. Although it is the latest 6595 platform, compared with the high-end and atmospheric image of Samsung Orion, the appearance of MX4 this time has turned Meizu from a god into a mortal, losing its "unique" characteristics.

Secondly, the innovation of the craftsmanship. Although Meizu has always emphasized that their screen-to-body ratio is high, the metal frame is more advanced than the material of Xiaomi 4, and the narrow frame is only 2.6MM, the fact that the screen-to-body ratio of TCL N3, the frame of Dasheng and Gionee S series and other old products are there can only make these words seem more boastful...

The selling point of 20.7-megapixel photography seems to be a trick often used by novices, but Meizu fans are all high-end fans who can tell the difference between pixel value and image quality, and they have serious doubts about the CMOS size slogan of micro single-lens level.

As for the fact that Meizu MX4 emphasizes the use of the latest screen glue suspension technology, which can reduce the screen breakage rate to below a certain percentage, this is not a matter of concern to users. If the screen breaks very frequently during normal use, this is a product design issue and has nothing to do with users. Why should users care about this? As for Meizu's claim that MX4 has tripled WiFi performance compared to MX3, and supports multiple global positioning systems such as GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou, this further confirms my doubts about MX4. How poor is this selling point to make such a feature so prominent? Are manufacturers like Huawei hiding and secretly happy?

Therefore, I have come to this conclusion with certainty: starting from MX4, Meizu has lost its class.

Meizu's last attempt

Don't think I'm exaggerating. Perhaps we'll know the outcome within twelve months.

Meizu's vice presidents Ma Lin and Mo Cuitian joined LeTV this year. Therefore, the industry has always believed that Meizu is unable to retain talent, resulting in talent loss. The most direct evidence is that after the Spring Festival this year, Meizu veteran Bai Gong disappeared for three days. It is rumored that he returned to the factory after leaving.

However, after so many problems accumulated and erupted, Huang Zhang seemed to no longer be stubborn and had some changes. Not only did he complete the first round of financial financing of 2 billion yuan in June, he also initiated the company's internal equity reform. Internal employees hold different numbers of options based on their years of service, and through modern management systems, he achieved the goal of locking in and valuing talents.

Compared with the previous family-based management model, Meizu now seems to be on a fast track of healthy development. However, the launch of MX4 this time gave me a new understanding. This is Meizu's bowing to reality, and also a desperate attempt to make a comeback in the 4G era.

Based on my understanding of Huang Zhang, he looked down upon the MTK solution at all, otherwise he would not have spent so much energy to promote Samsung's Orion products, because it is the second best mobile phone CPU series after the CPU used in Apple's iPhone.

Huang Zhang chose MTK's solution this time out of compromise. The first reason may be that the 4G solution of the Orion series is too complicated and advanced, and Meizu's current technical strength cannot keep up with this demand. The second reason is that there may be cracks in the cooperation with Samsung, because Meizu's business model of being content with small gains cannot bring greater sales for the promotion of Samsung's Orion. Samsung will also consider whether the future of this partner is worth betting on.

The reason why MTK was able to seize the opportunity is that, firstly, MTK's solution is highly mature and does not require too much secondary development. Secondly, MTK has always been known for its mid- and low-end products. This time, it can climb up to Meizu, a high-end and personalized brand, which is also beneficial to the improvement of its brand status. This may also be the basis for the two parties to hit it off.

What we are more puzzled about is that Huang Zhang is a very stubborn and conservative person. Making the best mobile phone has always been his ideal. He has not easily changed his ideas and opinions over the years. Why did he compromise this time? Could it be that he really couldn't stand the pressure from the investors? Perhaps this reason can better explain everything in this press conference: MTK platform, 1799 yuan price...

In conclusion:

I chatted with a few friends in the evening, among whom was a buddy who has been using Meizu products since E2. He said something that made me think: I use Meizu because I feel that I have a unique sense of superiority. My CPU has the best performance among Android phones, my phone screen is the most colorful, and my phone feels the best. I regard you as losers... But after MX4, I can no longer find the difference between you and me. Is it because of the 15:9 weird screen? Instead of this, why don’t I buy the 999 yuan Dashen F2?

The ideals of craftsmen must eventually bow to reality. Huang Zhang, can you really bear to see your ten years of work destroyed in an instant? Having lost its core value inheritance, what qualifications does Meizu have to compete with emerging brands such as OnePlus, Honor, and Dasheng?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.