When an era is coming to an end, there are always some people and companies who have to take the lead in saying goodbye.
The difference is that some farewells make the times sentimental, such as Nokia of that year; some farewells make people regret, such as HTC of that year; some farewells make people grit their teeth, such as LeTV of that year. But in any case, saying goodbye is the silent choice of the times, and going with the flow is the only answer.
At the beginning of 2022, Meizu, which was once the most beautiful landscape in the domestic mobile phone market, "sold" to Geely.
This is a farewell without applause, and it is also the answer that Huang Zhang gave himself, the most helpless answer.
In 2008, Lei Jun had just stepped down as CEO of Kingsoft, and in the face of the iPhone that had just been released, Lei Jun was vaguely aware that an era might be about to open.
In order to test his ideas, Lei Jun began to look for answers in the circle.
In that summer, the news that Meizu would follow the iPhone to make a mobile phone also splashed in the industry. Based on this, Lei Jun found Huang Zhang. This also laid the groundwork for the establishment of Xiaomi later.
An era has created a group of people, and Lei Jun and Huang Zhang are the same. In fact, I think Huang Zhang has better luck than Lei Jun. Because as a Huang Zhang, who was expelled from high school and did not undergo systematic education, his entrepreneurial success can only be regarded as a "single case", while Lei Jun belongs to the "public case" in entrepreneurship.
Unlike Lei Jun, at the age of 16, because he was too addicted to electrical appliances, Huang Zhang was "kicked out" by his father and let him start his own business. He chose Shenzhen and became a dock porter.
Before getting involved in the electronics industry, it was all honed by Huang Zhang. But the people chosen by the times will always leave a window and open a door. In 2002, Huang Zhang was already the general manager of a Singapore joint venture company. It is precisely because of Huang Zhang's advanced vision, the company from VCD to MP3, ultra-long standby time, 128MB of memory made Aegean this product popular, but in the time of relying on technology or advertising to open a broader market, Huang Zhang and shareholders had a disagreement, and then left the company.
In 2003, Huang Zhang founded Meizu, starting with MP3.
Because the quality is enough to pass the pass, coupled with the low operating threshold, Meizu quickly occupied the market and became the largest brand in the MP3 market. It is precisely because of Huang Zhang's insistence on quality that Meizu has accumulated a large number of loyal users.
In 2007, the release of the iPhone was like a fire, igniting the domestic mobile phone market. From feature phones to smart phones, this was the collective choice of that generation of mobile phone people at that time.
In 2008, when Lei Jun and Huang Zhang became confidants, for several months, Huang Zhang's office became Lei Jun's "base", and in Huang Zhang Meizu's office refrigerator, Lei Jun's favorite Coke became an indispensable drink.
At one time, it was rumored that Lei Jun wanted to invest in Meizu, and Huang Zhang wanted to invite Lei Jun to be the CEO of Meizu. But their honeymoon period ended with Lei Jun developing the MIUI system, and the two changed from close friends to passers-by, so that Huang Zhang could not let go for a long time.
At that time, there were two kinds of arguments about Huang Zhang and Lei Jun's feud, and Huang Zhang was more inclined to "steal the teacher". Lei Jun responded positively with only one sentence, "That is all his (Huang Zhang's) family's words." So far, Lei Jun has never mentioned Meizu again.
In 2009, the Meizu M8 was released, and once it was released, the phone was widely recognized by the market, and sales quickly exceeded 500 million in five months.
At that time, Meizu was definitely on the front line in the Chinese mobile phone market.
In 2010, Huang Zhang moved out of the Meizu Mansion and entrusted his daily work to Bai Yongxiang, while he often lived in a villa halfway up the bay, with little contact with the outside world.
In 2011, shortly after the release of the Meizu M9, Huang Zhang chose to "return to hiding". The comeback again dates back to 2013, when the rise of competitors such as Xiaomi, Meizu shipments were increased, and Ma Lin, the former vice president of Meizu, led some backbones to jump ship. In 2014, Huang Zhang officially made a comeback, Meizu and Ali made contact, when Ma Yun became interested in smart phones, he believed that smartphones and other terminals could open up the situation for Ali OS intelligent operating system.
In 2015, Meizu received a $590 million investment from Alibaba. Three months after receiving Alibaba's strategic investment, Huang Zhang accepted Ma Yun's invitation and visited Alibaba.
At that time, he posted a photo with Ma Yun on Weibo, accompanied by the text "Benefited a lot". Later, Ma Yun set a goal for Meizu circle - the goal of entering the top three of the domestic mobile phone market within three years.
A few months later, Huang Zhang handed over the company's affairs to CMO Li Nan on the grounds that staying up late and driving would cause his body to be tired and need to rest, and retired again.
In the years that followed, Huang Zhang hovered between his comeback and retirement until Bai Yongxiang went into hiding in 2017 and Li Nan left in 2018. At this point, Meizu has completely embarked on a downward spiral. For Li Nan's departure, some people once called him a talent in the Meizu community and hoped to stay. At that time, Huang Zhang replied: "What can make money is talent, and what keeps losing money is money." ”
In 2018, Meizu infighting coupled with layoffs, in order to stabilize the internal, Huang Zhang once again went out of the mountain to adjust the structure, and cut off the production line of Meizu, so that Meizu completely abandoned the low-end market, which is actually a "self-destructive" swing for Meizu.
According to data released by BCI, from December 28, 2020 to January 31, 2021, Meizu's market share was only 0.1%.
In fact, Meizu has come to this step today, Huang Zhang has an unshirkable responsibility, and at present, Meizu itself may not be able to make a comeback, and "selling" Jili may be the best choice for Huang Zhang and Meizu.