Tencent Technology reported on January 25 that Mei Zhang, the founder of Meizu Technology, appeared at the company’s annual meeting and delivered a new spring speech. He mentioned that Meizu's sales exceeded 20 million units in 2015 and set a goal for 2016: "steady growth and profit generation," with an aim to advance toward an IPO. This was the first annual meeting under Huang Zhang's leadership, although he didn't reveal much about the specifics of the plan. However, it was clear that the listing strategy had already been in motion.
A month earlier, Li Nan, vice president of Meizu, announced the 2015 performance during a media communication meeting. The total sales surpassed 20 million, with a 350% annual growth rate. Li Nan also mentioned that Meizu would control its sales growth in 2016, aiming for 25 million units, which represents only a 25% increase compared to the previous year’s explosive growth.
On January 4, Meizu issued a statement announcing layoffs. Although the affected departments were not disclosed, the number of employees laid off was expected to be no more than 5%. Meizu President Mei Yongxiang explained the move as part of efforts to build a stronger team, referencing Jack Welch’s 2-7-1 theory, which suggests eliminating the bottom 10% of employees annually.
Meizu, once known for its strong yellow-chip identity and focus on product excellence, began to shift after the rise of Xiaomi in 2011. Huang Zhang initially resisted external pressures but eventually returned to the company in February 2014. His return marked a turning point, leading to the launch of the MX4 and the introduction of the "Charm Blue" sub-brand, aimed at the low-cost smartphone market.
With the return of Huang Zhang, Meizu started to follow trends, adopting a high-cost-performance model similar to Xiaomi. It introduced the Charm Blue brand, secured strategic investment from Alibaba, and gradually entered the high-end mobile phone market alongside Huawei and Xiaomi.
The brand positioning of Meizu became clearer: Charm Blue targets the youth segment in the thousand-yuan price range, MX is a mid-range, cost-effective option, while PRO is its high-end line. With this structure, preparing for an IPO made sense.
However, stabilizing growth and generating profits remain challenging. While Meizu achieved a 350% sales increase in 2015, surpassing ZTE, sustaining such rapid growth in 2016 seemed unlikely. Analysts noted that Meizu’s strategy had become less aggressive, focusing more on stability rather than expansion.
Most of Meizu’s sales still came from the Charm Blue line, which accounted for over 70% of total sales in 2015. The average selling price dropped from 1,900 yuan in 2014 to 1,200 yuan in 2015, raising concerns about Meizu's pricing strategy.
Analysts pointed out that competition in the low-cost smartphone market was intense, even reaching a point where some manufacturers were losing money. Meizu’s decision to lay off employees suggested that profitability was still an issue. While Li Nan denied subsidies for Charm Blue, he mentioned that higher-capacity models and gift boxes would help improve gross margins.
The success of Meizu’s high-end phones could play a key role in its IPO plans. After Alibaba’s investment, the company saw rapid growth, and layoffs helped reduce costs, improving financial reports. However, the domestic high-end market is dominated by Apple and Samsung, making it difficult for new entrants.
Huawei and Xiaomi have already targeted the high-end segment, and Meizu aims to follow suit with its PRO5 and future high-end models. Li Nan stated that funds from Alibaba had not been fully utilized yet, and the company planned significant changes in design for high-end products.
Despite these efforts, Meizu’s brand image remains a challenge. Once associated with premium devices, the company is now often linked with cost-effectiveness, which may affect the sales of its high-end PRO5 models.
According to Forbes’ list of China’s 400 richest people, Huang Zhang ranked 206th with a net worth of 8.57 billion yuan. Some media compared Meizu’s potential valuation to Xiaomi’s, noting that Meizu’s 20 million units sold last year might place its value at around a quarter of Xiaomi’s, potentially exceeding $10 billion.
However, Xiaomi’s valuation has faced scrutiny due to slower-than-expected sales growth, and there were even reports of failed fundraising attempts. With Meizu experiencing a slowdown in growth, its valuation is unlikely to match Xiaomi’s high-growth trajectory.
Additionally, Xiaomi managed to reach 70 million units without releasing the Xiaomi 5, while Meizu reached its peak in 2015, with fewer models expected in 2016.
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The HV power module is also equipped with a DB9 interface to facilitate the bus control of embedded installation equipment. Customers can apply 0-10V signals and dry contact signals to the interface according to our interface definition to achieve comprehensive control and monitoring functions on the power supply, like high voltage start / stop, output setting and reading.
The CCP1000 high voltage power modules are equipped with complete protection functions, which can deal with sparking, short-circuit, and overload conditions. With the discharge protection circuit recommended by iDealTek-Electronics, the high-voltage module can also cope with conventional capacitor charging and discharging conditions.
At present, the high voltage power modules are mainly used in air or oil fume purification, capacitor charging and other application fields that require a high-voltage power module that can be embedded installation.
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