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Meizu MX4 Pro discontinued! Could the MediaTek investment have something to do with this?

Yash GargMay 14, 2015

A Meizu forum reveals that the most powerful of the recent lot of phones from Meizu, i.e., the MX4 Pro has been discontinued.

The MX4 Pro was announced a little after the initial MX4, which in itself was quite a success. We don’t really know why the phone is discontinued, but the development has been officially confirmed by the company. What is encouraging though is the fact that the MX4 Pro will continue to receive software support from the company.

This comes right around the time when rumours and leaks around the next Meizu flagship — the MX5 — are starting to show. From what we’re hearing, Meizu will be a little early this time in bringing the flagship phone for this year, which could possibly be within the next two months.

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Also, if you connect the dots, the idea of MediaTek pressure arises in your mind. If you aren’t aware, MediaTek recently announced it would be investing in the smartphone maker; the MX4 Pro that is the current Meizu flagship, comes with a Samsung Exynos processor… which could be a last.

We hope the MX5 just doesn’t end up being a filler for the MX4 Pro just with a different processor.

[ Source, Source 2]

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About the author

Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91
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Bruce S
May 14, 2015
Just thinking out loud here; but I wonder if the recent investments in Meizu by Alibaba and MediaTek are more about Alibaba laying a stronger foundation for it’s YunOS operating system in an effort to “compete” more effectively against Xiaomi in China? Perhaps both MediaTek and Alibaba see Meizu as the perfect vehicle to drive growth in both MTK and YunOS! Interesting times ahead for sure.

realjjj
May 14, 2015
Mediatek investing in them seems like it was not true but it wouldn’t matter here anyway.
If this story is true, then there could be some conflict with Samsung.
Christopher Straßer
May 14, 2015
In my opinion there are two reasons they dropped it:
1st: The Mediatek investment (if it is actually true)
2nd: Number of sales
It is well known that the MX4 Pro wasn’t the success Meizu wanted it to be. Back before it launched I already expected that. It just isn’t worth paying so much more money for a Samsung Exynos chipset that isn’t much faster than the MT6595, a dedicated audio amplifier that doesn’t deliver a much better audio experience compared to the MX4 and a finger print sensor that no one couldn’t live without. Meizu will probably go 100% Mediatek from now on, and considering the amazing chipsets they do nowadays this certainly isn’t a bad decision. We will see lot of phone for less money from now on. Certainly looking forward to that since Meizu know how to do a good phone!
- Rob
  May 14, 2015
  I think it is partly to do with Mediatek as it doesn’t look good if a company you’ve invested in uses someone else’s chip set in their flagship phone. Also as you rightly point out, the price difference really wasn’t worth the marginal increase in power and flawed audio that never delivered what it promised.
- Jack
  May 15, 2015
  Furthermore I didn’t bought the MX4 because NFC was in the more expensive MX4 PRO! So I decided to wait for an other generation where is All-In-One. 😉

balcobomber25
May 14, 2015
I think it has nothing to do with the Mediatek investment. I think it’s more to clear out as much stock as possible before revealing the MX-5.
- Rob
  May 14, 2015

Angry Mobile Nerd
May 14, 2015
Lack of sales. This was Meizu’s first time trying to release multiple tiers of phones (low, mid-range and flagship) and they royally screwed up (as much as I like Meizu) by making the MX4 too good (or the Pro not good enough if you want to look at it that way) and then subsequently made things worse by releasing the M1 note (which also packed great specs at a low low price).
In the end the MX4 totally cannibalized the Pro sales. This is why we have well-defined low-range, mid-range, and flagship phones, folks. You want to put almost flagship worthy specs in your mid-range phone you better expect it to eat away at your real flagship’s sales.
- Guaire
  May 14, 2015
  - Angry Mobile Nerd
    May 14, 2015
    Old news (I remember this article, too), and it fails to mention actual numbers how much of each model sold. What you don’t know is Meizu also dropped the price of the Pro right around the same time that article was published but not the price of the MX4 — that says something right there.
    - Guaire
      May 14, 2015
      The reason behind price cut more likely making it more competitive against Mi Note IMO.
      MX4 and MX4 Pro selled through 4 months side by side before Pro’s price dropped.
      That happened just a bit more than a month later Mi Note’s first batch come out.
      Some guy here claims they are not just stopped Pro.
- balcobomber25
  May 15, 2015
  I never really understood the need to release the Pro. The MX4 was already a flagship phone and was excellent. Once they released the Pro it killed the sales and the marketing of the MX4.
  The M1 on the other hand had no affect on either as it was a different phone for a different segment. The M1 is their midrange offering, something they have never really had.

libranto
May 14, 2015
Meizu stoped production for all models. I think just making clearance. In addition, Meizu users facing some problems with devices. For instance battery drain, Android updates, cloud services, bugs with 3g, keyboard, email app etc. I hope meizu team focus on user’s experiences.
Roberto Locca
May 14, 2015
clear situation Exynos=Samsung Mediatech=Meizu Qualcomm=HTC-LG Xiaomi Mid situation Qualcomm /new leadcore
- balcobomber25
  May 15, 2015
  Except it is never that clear:
  1. Samsung and Mediatek have been in talks since Samsung distanced itself from Qualcomm.
  2. HTC recently released the One M9+ which features the 6795T from Mediatek.
  - And xpect future Mediatek chips being produced in Sammy fabs in the near future on 14Nm…
    😉

Kingu Prima
May 14, 2015
I’ve found the MX4 PRO nice thanks to its good design and hardware
specs, however without a good software monitoring it’s sometimes better
buying a less powerful device providing a better user experience.
From firmwares to firmwares some bugs disappear other appear, it’s the yo-yo style by Meizu
I may now consider another brand like Nubia, LG, Huawei, Nexus or else

Guaire
May 14, 2015
Well, I didn’t realize one of the source was Meizu Turkey.
Also in the Facebook page he claims Meizu will not continue MX4 and for replacement they will come up 3 new device beginning with MX5.
Mind you Meizu Turkey actually just local distributor also distributor of Zopo.
Ivan Jensen
May 14, 2015
Goodix make the fingerprint scanner in MX4 pro. And Synapitc files patent infringment against Goodix.
Synaptic make scanners for Samsung.. Fingerprint card made the Huawei mate7 and Oppo N3..
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/synaptics-files-patent-infringement-complaints-in-protection-of-innovative-touch-sensing-technology-300069773.html