ZTE catches a ride on Doubao's coattails
On December 1st, the stock price of ZTE Corporation, a mobile phone manufacturer, opened high and closed even higher, finally hitting the daily limit and closing at 46.3 yuan per share.
On the same day, ZTE's Hong Kong - listed shares also rose significantly, finally closing at HK$35.8 per share, with a gain of 13.94%.
Looking at ZTE's stock price trend, such a large - scale fluctuation rarely occurred before. The reason why it attracted capital to vote with their feet this time is mainly because it caught a ride on Doubao's "coattails".
On that day, the Doubao team of ByteDance released a technical preview version of the Doubao Mobile Assistant, which was installed on the engineering prototype nubia M153 co - developed with ZTE.
Image source: Doubao's official WeChat account
The market has high expectations for this mobile phone because ZTE's cooperation with Doubao is not superficial. The two parties are not jointly developing an independent mobile phone product. Instead, they are collaborating at the level of the mobile phone operating system based on Doubao's technological capabilities.
In recent years, whether AI technology can bring incremental growth to mobile phone manufacturers has become a widely - concerned topic.
However, many AI mobile phone assistants on the market are often criticized by users. When a truly useful, smooth, and hands - free AI mobile phone assistant will appear has also become a question.
Judging from the evaluations circulated in the market, the AI functions of the Doubao mobile phone perform well. Users only need to give instructions to the phone, and the phone can automatically execute some operations that previously required multiple clicks and screen switches, such as comparing prices, placing orders, searching for travel guides, and sending screenshots.
This mobile phone quickly became popular. On December 2nd, ZTE Mall showed that the first "Doubao Assistant" mobile phone was "sold out". On second - hand trading platforms, the price of this mobile phone also skyrocketed.
Both users and capital are willing to pay. With real sales and the revitalization of ZTE's stock price, this mobile phone brand, which has often been absent from the market stage, has returned to the center of market attention.
Doubao has also provided a new cooperation model for the market. Customized mobile phones with large - scale models are likely to become a new opportunity for win - win cooperation between large - scale model providers and mobile phone manufacturers.
However, neither ZTE nor Doubao can declare victory at present. They will each face many challenges.
What makes the "Doubao Mobile Phone" different?
Users may not be unfamiliar with the Doubao APP. This product, which has always ranked among the top two in the monthly active user list of AI native APPs, has many functions, but they are only available within the APP.
The difference of the Doubao Mobile Assistant is that the mobile phone serves as an entry point to a large - scale model. Users can experience AI functions without opening the Doubao APP. The way to activate the AI function is also relatively simple. Users just need to press the AI button on the side of the phone and can use voice to drive the system to complete various tasks like a human being.
For example, the photo - editing function of the Doubao APP has been recognized by many users. Upload a photo in the Doubao APP and state your requirements, and the AI can help with photo editing.
But if using the Doubao Mobile Assistant, users only need to be in the phone's photo album interface, say the photo - editing requirements to the photo, and the Doubao Mobile Assistant will complete the photo - editing as required.
In the Doubao mobile phone, in addition to system software such as the photo album and video player being able to connect with Doubao, the barriers between various applications have also been broken.
For example, when chatting on a social software, users may sometimes not know how to reply. At this time, many users may open the Doubao APP, copy and paste, and enter their requirements to get the recommended replies from Doubao.
But if using the Doubao Mobile Assistant, users just need to press the side button, and Doubao will automatically read the current chat history context and generate reply content. Users don't need to copy and paste anymore and can directly send the reply to their friends by clicking "Confirm".
By analogy, many functions of Doubao are fully integrated into the mobile phone. For example, users can press the side button twice to activate Doubao's voice - companionship function and image - recognition function.
Of course, these operations related to the existing functions of the Doubao APP and only requiring one - step actions are not the biggest highlight of the Doubao Mobile Assistant. The Doubao Mobile Assistant can also operate multiple mobile applications like a human being, which the Doubao APP cannot do.
Now, there are already AI assistants in some mobile phone products on the market that can help users order coffee and book hotels. The Doubao Mobile Assistant can go one step further: compare prices across multiple platforms.
For example, if a user wants to order a cup of coffee, due to different discount mechanisms on different platforms, the user needs to switch back and forth among three different applications to determine the lowest price and place an order.
This action may sound like it only requires one sentence, but in practice, it requires at least three APP switches and more than 10 screen clicks. Users need to first open a food - delivery APP, search for the desired product, check the price, remember it, then switch to another APP and repeat the same operation.
The Doubao Mobile Assistant can help users complete the above operations. Users just need to press the side button and say, "Help me check which platform, Taobao Flash Sale, Meituan Takeaway, or JD Instant Delivery, has a cheaper price for a certain product."
Since Doubao can automatically open APPs to query relevant information, users don't need to provide too many details to let Doubao complete some complex operations.
For example, Doubao can set an alarm for leaving home and going to the station without the user revealing the specific train number. Users can give the instruction: "Help me check the information of my morning train tomorrow, then calculate the appropriate time to leave from here, and set an alarm for leaving home, arriving at the station about XX minutes in advance." Then Doubao will start to operate.
Judging from the evaluation information in the market, Doubao's operations are very human - like. It will first open the 12306 APP to find ticket information, then open a map software to check how long it takes to get to the station, and will stop to ask the user how they plan to go to the station. Finally, it will set the leaving - home alarm based on a series of information.
Of course, although these operations have clear logic, the operating speed of the program is still a bit slower than that of a human being.
According to a test published by "Chaping", it takes about half a minute for the Doubao Mobile Assistant to automatically sign in on JD.com to get Jingdou, while a human may only need about ten seconds to do the same.
Image source: Doubao's official video account
Another selling point of the Doubao mobile phone is that it performs AI tasks in the background without affecting the user's normal use of the phone. At the same time, users can also set the time to complete tasks. For example, they can let Doubao complete tasks with low urgency, such as organizing daily bills and collecting energy in Ant Forest, at midnight every day.
Judging from the user experience reports in the market, overall, the functions of the Doubao Mobile Assistant are no longer limited to answering user questions and simple one - step operations. It has made great progress compared with other products on the market.
ZTE catches a ride, with both sales and stock price rising
As the first brand to be equipped with the Doubao Mobile Assistant, ZTE's technological presence is not very prominent, but it has also reaped benefits.
In addition to the significant increase in the company's stock price mentioned above, this limited - edition mobile phone is also very popular.
Although this mobile phone currently only offers one version, white with 16GB + 512GB, and its other selling points are not outstanding. ZTE's official website also reminds that "this product is only for industry insiders who need to experience the Doubao Mobile Assistant. The perfection of functions of a mature product is not guaranteed. Ordinary consumers should choose carefully." However, it still can't resist the market's enthusiasm.
Now, this mobile phone is shown as "sold out" on ZTE Mall. On the second - hand platform Xianyu, the second - hand price of the nubia M153 mobile phone has reached 4,200 yuan to 4,999 yuan, 700 yuan to 1,500 yuan higher than the official price.
Image source: ZTE's official website
ZTE also provides a more formal way to obtain the phone. The sold - out notice on ZTE's official website shows that users can add the enterprise WeChat of the Doubao Mobile Assistant, fill in the reservation information, and apply for an F - code. After getting the F - code, they can purchase the phone as instructed.
On second - hand platforms, the F - code for the Doubao mobile phone is also clearly priced, mostly between 100 yuan and 300 yuan.
It can be said that from the market's feedback, appearing as a hardware prototype equipped with the Doubao Mobile Assistant technology is very suitable for ZTE at present.
As one of the early - starters in the industry, ZTE's glory days were in the era of PHS and CDMA. According to a research report released by Western Securities, in 2004, ZTE's revenue reached 22.7 billion yuan, and its profit reached 1 billion yuan. Its revenue scale was five times that of 2000.
At that time, the domestic mobile phone market was still dominated by international giants such as Nokia and Motorola. Although domestic mobile phone brands like ZTE, Bird, and Gionee faced difficulties, they still managed to gain a significant share.
The turning point occurred around 2008. At that time, ZTE saw the opportunity of internationalization and accelerated its strategic expansion. The company's overseas revenue accounted for more than 60% that year.
With rapid expansion, ZTE achieved a global shipment of 67 million units in 2012, ranking fourth in the world after Samsung, Nokia, and Apple. However, it also suffered a loss for the first time.
Subsequently, although ZTE seized the market opportunity when China entered the 4G era, it was affected by the international environment twice in 2016 and 2018, and its development encountered a crisis.
In 2018, ZTE recorded a loss of - 6.98 billion yuan because all relevant fines and provision for losses were included in that year's performance.
Meanwhile, the pattern of the Chinese smartphone market had begun to take shape. According to data released by IDC at that time, in the fourth quarter of 2018, the top five mobile phone manufacturers in terms of shipments were Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Apple, and Xiaomi. ZTE, an earlier starter, failed to outperform others.
To this day, it is difficult to find ZTE in the list of domestic mobile phone shipment rankings, and it is also difficult to find recent shipment data of ZTE mobile phones in the market.
ZTE's mobile phone business is no longer the company's main source of income. According to ZTE's financial report for the first half of 2025, the business with a relatively high proportion in the company's product - based classification is the carrier network business. The consumer business only accounts for 24.09% of the revenue, with an income of 17.23 billion yuan.
If we ignore the revenue from other terminals such as routers and regard the consumer business entirely as the mobile phone business, assuming the price of each mobile phone is 2,000 yuan, ZTE's mobile phone shipment in the first half of this year may not have reached 10 million units.
Whether considering sales or brand influence, ZTE badly needs a new story and cannot fall behind the times. Therefore, it is more accurate to say that ZTE needs Doubao rather than Doubao choosing ZTE.
However, although ZTE has caught a ride, it still cannot afford to be careless. The reason why the nubia M153 was sold out and its price increased on second - hand trading platforms is partly because of its limited supply and partly because of users' curiosity.
After users' novelty wears off, they will have more stringent requirements for the product. ZTE and Doubao have provided new possibilities for the industry, but they have also inspired their peers. When more players enter the market, fierce competition will follow.
Whether Doubao can bring continuous incremental growth to ZTE remains unknown.
Will customized mobile phones with large - scale models be a new business opportunity for mobile phone and large - scale model manufacturers?
Some in the market believe that ZTE is about to become the Seres in the mobile phone industry, while Doubao has the momentum of Huawei in the mobile phone field.
Doubao has clearly stated externally that "it has no plan to develop its own mobile phones" and will integrate the Doubao Mobile Assistant into mobile phones of different brands through "ecological cooperation".
This also means that Doubao will not only cooperate with ZTE. Therefore, since ZTE does not master the core technology, its situation remains passive.
The essence of the Doubao Mobile Assistant is to add AI Agent functions to the operating system. This idea is not unique in the industry.
For example, Jieyue Xingchen previously released a product called Jieyue AI Desktop Companion. This product is connected to the local operating system and can collect key information through the browser, generate practical documents after sorting and analysis, track popular e - commerce products, and organize invoice reimbursement pictures on the computer desktop.
Therefore, when the model of customized mobile phones with large - scale models can be successful and bring real sales, it will definitely attract many mobile phone manufacturers.
Currently, the mobile phone market is highly competitive. The development of mobile phone functions by major brands has reached a bottleneck. AI technology is recognized as a breakthrough point for differentiated competition in the industry.
However, currently, many mobile phone manufacturers' AI stories are not well - told. On social platforms, users often complain that the AI functions of mobile phones are not intelligent enough and affect the normal use of the phone. Many users simply turn off the AI functions of their phones.
In addition, when developing their own AI mobile phone assistants, many mobile phone brands are restricted by the barriers of open permissions between applications. It is difficult for AI mobile phone assistants to perform complex operations such as switching back and forth among multiple APPs.
Therefore, cooperating with large - scale model manufacturers to customize AI mobile phones may be a model that mobile phone manufacturers are willing to try.
However, challenges have already emerged.
The reason why the Doubao Mobile Assistant can complete some operation tasks like a human being is that it can