Meizu 21 Series Sold Out as Soon as It Went on Sale, Proving that the Small Factory in Zhuhai not only Relies on Its Looks

Meizu 21 Series Instantly Sells Out, Demonstrating Zhuhai's Small Factory's Success Beyond Aesthetics

【Mobile China】On November 30th, the 2023 Meizu Autumn Unbounded Ecological Conference was officially held. Although the Meizu 20 series at the beginning of this year was a little late to the party, not being released until the end of March, it still excited many Meizu fans. But now, the Meizu 21 series is catching the early bus. The Snapdragon 8 Gen3 was just released at the end of October, and Meizu has already brought out its model at the end of November. You can’t say they’re not fast.

Currently, there is only one model available for the Meizu 21 series, and the Meizu 21 Pro may not be released until next year. The Meizu 21 comes in three storage versions, with the 8GB+256GB version selling for 3399 yuan, the 12GB+256GB version selling for 3699 yuan, and the 12GB+512GB version selling for 3999 yuan. All three storage versions were available for sale both online and offline on December 5th at 10 o’clock.

On the morning of December 5th, as soon as the Meizu 21 series went on sale, the official couldn’t wait to release the first sales results: the Meizu 21 sold over 100 million yuan within a second across all channels. And some versions are already quite scarce! Based on the lowest price of 3399 yuan, Meizu sold nearly 30,000 units in just one second.

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To be honest, this sales result is actually a bit surprising. This is not to underestimate Meizu. People often jokingly call Meizu a “small factory in Zhuhai”. In terms of brand influence, channel construction, and market marketing, Meizu does have a big gap compared to big factories like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. So, in the absence of these advantages, how did the Meizu 21 series achieve such good sales results right after its launch?

Speaking of the Meizu 21, we can see that it is actually a “special case” in the mobile phone market. Looking at the configuration alone, the Meizu 21 is not outstanding. There are many phones in the 3000 yuan price range that already have a 2K OLED screen and support 200W or even 240W fast charging. However, this phone still only has a 1080P screen and 80W charging, and the main and front cameras are not stunning in terms of hardware. What’s most noteworthy about the Meizu 21 is its appearance.

The appearance design of the Meizu 21 is basically the same as the Meizu 20, with only slight changes in some details. The rear camera still features a minimalist independent triple camera design. The most unique feature of this phone is still the front. The new phone adopts a super narrow four-sided screen, with only 1.74mm bezels, making it the world’s narrowest physical four-sided three-star flagship straight-screen phone. It is also equipped with a possibly exclusive white front panel. Therefore, many netizens consider the Meizu 21 to be the smartphone with the highest front-end appearance.

High appearance value is unquestionable, but this is just the external manifestation of the Meizu 21. From it, we can see Meizu’s unique and independent spirit that it has upheld for more than a decade. In the current industry, Meizu is one of the few companies that does not follow the mainstream development. Other smartphone manufacturers can also produce white front panels, but it is more expensive and not rewarding, while Meizu is willing to put in effort for user demands and appearance. This unique strategy has also won Meizu some goodwill among the general public. In some digital enthusiast communities, Meizu often has a good reputation, even though many people have not used Meizu phones for many years.

In the second half of 2022, Star Era Investment obtained over 79% controlling rights of Meizu Technology. Prior to this, Meizu, a veteran domestic smartphone manufacturer, had been unable to release new phones for a long time and its sales plummeted, bringing it to the brink of survival. The arrival of Star Era, or rather, Geely and Li Shufu, completely pulled Meizu back from the edge of the cliff. Although it carries the imprint of the Geely Group, Meizu has also gained advantages it did not have before.

On July 19th, the media interviewed Shen Zi Yu, chairman and CEO of Star Era Meizu Group. In the interview, Shen Zi Yu revealed some insider information about the Meizu Technology acquisition case. Shen Zi Yu said that Star Era initially did not consider acquiring Meizu, and the cooperation between the two parties was a coincidence. After cooperating with Star Era, Meizu Technology has gained greater resources, such as the supply chain. With the integration of the whole vehicle and mobile phone supply chain and full collaboration with Geely Automobile, Meizu Technology’s advantage in the supply chain is no less than that of Xiaomi Group.

It can be said that although Meizu has not been able to grow into a big tree like Huawei and Xiaomi, its partnership with Geely allows it to have advantages comparable to the two. This advantage is also well reflected in the Meizu 21. The white front panel of Meizu phones not only requires a lot of funds and technology, but also the cooperation of upstream supply chain manufacturers. The fact that the model can be launched is enough to illustrate Meizu’s influence on the supply chain today.

The connection between the mobile phone and automotive industries is becoming increasingly close. Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi, and other mobile phone companies have all entered the automotive industry, although with different progress and approaches. Huawei has formed partnerships with Changan, Dongfeng, JAC, and BAIC to create a series of brands such as Idea, Wens, and more; while Xiaomi operates independently, refusing external investment, building its own factory, recruiting talents, researching for years to create automobiles. Compared to them, Meizu’s entry into the automotive industry can be described as unique.

By the end of November, while Xiaomi’s cars were still in the factory after two to three years of development, Meizu had already announced its entry into the automotive market, aiming to create a special Dream Car for Meizu fans. This car model is based on the SEA architecture and Geely’s Industrial 4.0 manufacturing capabilities, and it is expected to launch the Dream Car Co-creation Program in the first quarter of 2024. Meizu 21 users can use the original price of their phones to offset the purchase price of the car, effectively buying a car and getting a phone for free. From this perspective, Meizu’s car manufacturing speed seems to be faster than Xiaomi’s. With the backing of Geely, a domestic automotive giant, Meizu naturally has stronger advantages in car manufacturing and doesn’t have to start from scratch.

In addition to building cars, Meizu’s system advantages have also been well utilized in Geely’s automotive brands. Flyme Auto can be found in the car infotainment systems of brands like Lynk & Co, Polestar, and Yuanjing. In terms of connected car systems, Meizu’s boundaryless ecosystem strategy is currently ahead of Xiaomi. This not only influences the owners of these brands, boosting Meizu’s phone sales, but also creates a better environment for Meizu’s future development. It is possible that there are many Geely car owners among Meizu 21 users.

Looking at it now, Meizu 21 can be considered a temporary success, but with the strong release of competitive models like OnePlus 12 and realme GT5 Pro, the market competition environment has changed again. Although Meizu has its unique advantages, if it wants to firmly establish itself in the 2024 smartphone market, it still needs more models. Let’s look forward to the arrival of Meizu 21 Pro, whenever that may be.

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