This smartphone manufacturer is folding its sails. RAM prices and competition brought him down

For the first time (not counting previous perturbations) by Meizu announced the end of smartphone production at the beginning of 2024, but she did not stick to her decision for long and just a few months later she decided to return with new models. The last major premiere was a well-equipped compact flagship Meizu 22, powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 system. All to no avail.

Now the company has definitely canceled the planned hardware premieres, as indicated by the latest reports from China. Instead, the brand will focus solely on the development of AI software, including the Flyme OS system intended for cars (the majority owner of Meizu is Geely).

Meizu has been in the shadow for a long time, however a decade ago, it was a player who promised to be the second Xiaomi. The company had been producing smartphones since 2008 and in the following years showed many innovative designs, such as Meizu Pro 7 – the first smartphone with an additional AMOLED screen on the back of the housing. Although they were not absolute flagships, they attracted attention with their interesting appearance and good specifications. Flyme OS was one of the first systems modeled on iOS, which attracted the attention of users discouraged by the then not very interesting Android interface.

The direct cause of Meizu’s capitulation is the phenomenon known as RAMpocalypse. Giants such as Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are purchasing RAM chips en masse for their data centers and AI infrastructure. This leads to massive shortages in the consumer electronics market and a sharp increase in production costs. The Chinese brand openly admitted that in such conditions competing in the smartphone market is simply impossible. Only the biggest players have a chance of survival.

Meizu’s problems are just the tip of the iceberg. Recently from the mobile market Taiwanese Asus also withdrewwhich decided to transfer its resources to the development of PCs and AI devices. Analysts are sounding the alarm, predicting that after a temporary rebound in 2024-2025, this year will bring another collapse in demand for phones.

Depending on the research center, forecasts for 2026 are extremely pessimistic. Omdia predicts a decline in global deliveries by 7%, Gartner by 8.4%, and IDC expects a record decline of nearly 13%. Manufacturers of low- and mid-range devices will suffer the most. It is estimated that sales of phones priced below $100 will shrink by as much as 31% this year.