Meizu has revealed its futuristic port-free smartphone was nothing more than a marketing stunt.

The so-called “Zero” handset was announced just over a month ago before being made available to preorder through a failed crowdfunding campaign. But Meizu founder and CEO Jack Wong says the project “was just the marketing team messing about.”

The Zero’s eye-watering $1,299 price tag meant very few people actually bothered preordering anyway. The device attracted just 29 backers and failed to meet its funding goal on Indiegogo. Now Meizu says it was never meant for mass-production anyway.

Meizu founder dismisses Zero phone

“The crowdfunding project was just the marketing team messing about,” said Jack Wong in response to questions about the Zero on Meizu’s official forum.

“The holeless phone is just a development project from the R&D department, we never intended to mass-produce this project.”

Many Meizu fans are understandably upset about Wong’s casual and rather unprofessional attitude toward the device. Some were already questioning why a large company with plenty of resources was using Indiegogo to fund a new product.

The comments are unlikely to fill consumers with confidence about future Meizu projects that might seek crowdfunding.

What’s happening with Zero now?

It’s unclear what the future of the Zero looks like, but it doesn’t seem promising.

It almost sounds like Meizu has no choice but to drop the project given that the Zero wasn’t funded, and that Wong’s comments were an effort to convince fans that the company didn’t care too much about the device anyway.

The Zero was certainly in development, and working units had been spotted in the wild. It’s unlikely they will be appearing again later on, however.

Via: Engadget