Meizu shuts up shop in Hong Kong

AbbieMay 21, 2013

Meizu is having a hard time of it right now. The boutique phone maker based in Zhuhai is struggling to keep up with rivals and has now quietly shut its flagship store in Hong Kong!

Before the hundreds of MTK based phones, before Oppo started getting serious and before Xiaomi started rocking the Chinaphone scene, Meizu were the number one Chinese phone maker. Their phones have always bee well made and stylish, but their buggyfirmware and insistence to use their own Flyme ROM has caused issues to the point that fans have ditched the brand all together!

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Although we have known for some time Meizu have been struggling it’s only now that the cracks are beginning to show! At the same time as Xiaomi officially enters Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Oppo are wowing the world, Meizu are quietly shutting their Hong Kong store due to lack of interest!

Meizu still has plenty of stores in the mainland of China, but even visiting one of those you will be surprised by the lack of customers!

These next few months in the run up to the Meizu MX3 launch could be make it or break it time for the once great Meizu, and we can’t help but think if they just ditched Flyme in favour of a vanilla Android install their fortunes could easily turn around!

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About the author
Abbie
Abbie is a self confessed Chinese phone addict! After cutting her teeth on the Meizu M9 she hasn't been able to keep away from Chinese phones keeping her ear to the ground especially for the latest Shanzhai and clone news!

aaa
May 21, 2013
they should keep their prices even higher than before and yay… good for them
ive liked that brand since famous mp4 time, before they were selling twice overpriced products

njren
May 21, 2013
Is this a news or opinion piece? Any sales data to back up your claims of lack of interest? Meizu continues to open new stores in China…they’re shooting for 500 by the end of the year. They’re over 400 now, but not sure they can reach that target. They also sell online through their own website and through JD.com.
True, competition is stiff in Hong Kong but Meizu also offers their phones through PCCW (HK telco) and Wilson (chain of mobile shops) so it’s not exactly like they’re skulking away with their tail between their legs.
Also, Meizu were never, ever the “number one Chinese phone maker”. Did you just make that up?
- Airyl
  May 21, 2013
  During the days of the Meizu M9, they were a pretty huge deal. After that Xiaomi came along and grabbed that title. As of now, the main battle is between Oppo and Xiaomi.

Freeje
May 21, 2013
It just means you don’t see a crowd inside their stores. They are not great enough that you’ll see a number of company-owned stores in HK. Never liked their overpriced phones. Now that other Chinese companies can offer the same quality and at much lower prices then pretty soon they’ll have their tail between their legs.
- njren
  May 21, 2013
  In Hong Kong or Mainland China, the only crowds you see are at stores that carry a range of devices from different manufacturers, i.e. comparison shopping. With the exception of Apple, you’ll struggle to see large numbers of people shopping at any retail space devoted to a single brand. Too many options to buy, including online and through telecoms, typically cheaper. For Meizu in particular, you will see busy stores once or twice a year when they actually release a new device or update an existing one. Actually, the crowds got to be such a headache that for the MX2, the company set up site-to-store purchasing for folks who wanted to pick up locally.
  And how many Chinese mobile phone manufacturers operate their own retail stores in Hong Kong? Now that Meizu closed up shop, I think the answer is zero but please let me know if I’m wrong.
Simon
May 21, 2013
Werent Meizu notorious for being an iPhone clone. I think this will disappoint alot of Russians, as I think it is a popular bespoke brand with them. Hopefully flyme will be gone. I think there was another post on here that showed MIUI on a Meizu MX2
- May 21, 2013
  The first phone they made (the Meizu M8) did look like an iPhone from back in the day. That phone was actually pretty amazing and ran a custom version of Windows CE! The M9 was a bit of a let down, but the MX and MX2 are great phones. If they dumped Flyme now they would solve so many issues, however they have invested so much in it I doubt they will.
  - Simon
    May 25, 2013
    Apparently MIUI has been ported to the Meizu MX2, perhaps you can can get hold of one and do a side by side comparison with Xiaomi Mi2S
    - Simon
      May 25, 2013
ivan
May 21, 2013
No widget, no buy, Meizu. Hope you learn your lesson. This is a small part of what widget can do with homescreen:
http://www.oppoforums.com/threads/show-us-your-homescreens.581/page-18
or
http://mycolorscreen.com/
Yes some of them are combination of launcher, but really, I don’t even sure flyme can be compatible with all launcher. In fact some Oppo devices (and Find 5, but later fixed) cannot really applied Nova Launcher even though the play store said it is compatible.

XrainX
May 21, 2013
Hmm… so Nokia learned from Meizu to not use Android?
- Airyl
  May 21, 2013
  Flyme is Android, just a really buggy, poorly put together, widgetless version which goes way farther away from Android than MIUI or even Aliyun OS.
mike
May 21, 2013
- XrainX
  May 21, 2013
  True. 😉
- njren
  May 21, 2013
  The directions are to their customer service center. Looks like it’s on the 19th floor; probably not an ideal place for retail.

Guest
May 21, 2013
they should keep their prices even higher than before and yay… good for them
ive liked that brand since famous mp4 time, before they were selling twice overpriced products

Guest
May 21, 2013
Is this a news or opinion piece? Any sales data to back up your claims of lack of interest? Meizu continues to open new stores in China…they’re shooting for 500 by the end of the year. They’re over 400 now, but not sure they can reach that target. They also sell online through their own website and through JD.com.
True, competition is stiff in Hong Kong but Meizu also offers their phones through PCCW (HK telco) and Wilson (chain of mobile shops) so it’s not exactly like they’re skulking away with their tail between their legs.
Also, Meizu were never, ever the “number one Chinese phone maker”. Did you just make that up?
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  During the days of the Meizu M9, they were a pretty huge deal. After that Xiaomi came along and grabbed that title. As of now, the main battle is between Oppo and Xiaomi.

Guest
May 21, 2013
It just means you don’t see a crowd inside their stores. They are not great enough that you’ll see a number of company-owned stores in HK. Never liked their overpriced phones. Now that other Chinese companies can offer the same quality and at much lower prices then pretty soon they’ll have their tail between their legs.
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  In Hong Kong or Mainland China, the only crowds you see are at stores that carry a range of devices from different manufacturers, i.e. comparison shopping. With the exception of Apple, you’ll struggle to see large numbers of people shopping at any retail space devoted to a single brand. Too many options to buy, including online and through telecoms, typically cheaper. For Meizu in particular, you will see busy stores once or twice a year when they actually release a new device or update an existing one. Actually, the crowds got to be such a headache that for the MX2, the company set up site-to-store purchasing for folks who wanted to pick up locally.
  And how many Chinese mobile phone manufacturers operate their own retail stores in Hong Kong? Now that Meizu closed up shop, I think the answer is zero but please let me know if I’m wrong.
Guest
May 21, 2013
Werent Meizu notorious for being an iPhone clone. I think this will disappoint alot of Russians, as I think it is a popular bespoke brand with them. Hopefully flyme will be gone. I think there was another post on here that showed MIUI on a Meizu MX2
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  The first phone they made (the Meizu M8) did look like an iPhone from back in the day. That phone was actually pretty amazing and ran a custom version of Windows CE! The M9 was a bit of a let down, but the MX and MX2 are great phones. If they dumped Flyme now they would solve so many issues, however they have invested so much in it I doubt they will.
- Guest
  May 25, 2013
  Apparently MIUI has been ported to the Meizu MX2, perhaps you can can get hold of one and do a side by side comparison with Xiaomi Mi2S
- Guest
  May 25, 2013
  Didnt realise that I already made that comment above, some time ago. Silly me.

Guest
May 21, 2013
No widget, no buy, Meizu. Hope you learn your lesson. This is a small part of what widget can do with homescreen:
http://www.oppoforums.com/threads/show-us-your-homescreens.581/page-18
or
http://mycolorscreen.com/
Yes some of them are combination of launcher, but really, I don’t even sure flyme can be compatible with all launcher. In fact some Oppo devices (and Find 5, but later fixed) cannot really applied Nova Launcher even though the play store said it is compatible.
Guest
May 21, 2013
Hmm… so Nokia learned from Meizu to not use Android?
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  Flyme is Android, just a really buggy, poorly put together, widgetless version which goes way farther away from Android than MIUI or even Aliyun OS.
- Guest
  May 22, 2013

Guest
May 21, 2013
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  True. 😉
- Guest
  May 21, 2013
  The directions are to their customer service center. Looks like it’s on the 19th floor; probably not an ideal place for retail.
darkwing
May 21, 2013
I’ve always think they are overpriced as hell, would cost almost the same than an iphone.
anony
May 21, 2013
“Shut down”
Guest
May 22, 2013
I’ve always think they are overpriced as hell, would cost almost the same than an iphone.

Guest
May 22, 2013
“Shut down”
Simon
May 25, 2013
They are probably not closing up shop for good, maybe just relocating or concentrating on selling online (rent in Hong Kong must be very expensive)
Guest
May 25, 2013
They are probably not closing up shop for good, maybe just relocating or concentrating on selling online (rent in Hong Kong must be very expensive)