Report: Doubao AI agent smartphone is scheduled to be unveiled and go on sale during the 2026 WAIC, with 80k to 100k units already stocked.

A steady stream of new on-device AI hardware is emerging, accelerating the real-world rollout of AI agents, and bringing incremental opportunities to listed companies across the industry chain.

On July 10, a reporter learned from industry circles that the first AI agent smartphone from ByteDance, jointly developed with ZTE Nubia (abbreviated as “Doubao AI agent smartphone”), is planned to make its debut and go on sale during the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. The company has already stocked 80,000 to 100,000 units, with the first batch totaling 500,000 units—far exceeding the previous generation.

The day before, Jiexing Xingchen posted: “The next generation of agent terminals really is coming. The company will bring a new answer for the Agent era.” Industry speculation suggests that its flagship new product may be positioned as an AI smartphone.

In the view of industry insiders, the launch of products such as the Doubao AI agent smartphone may reshape the competitive logic in the smartphone industry: the focus of competition in the industry has shifted from past battles over purely software and hardware specifications to the practical, real-world deployment experience of on-device AI large models. For domestic smartphone manufacturers, this situation may become a key inflection point for industrial upgrading, and the market share of local brands is expected to continue rising.

Consumer-side physical AI hardware new products are also rolling out faster. On July 5, Skyworth Digital released an AI agent immersive entertainment terminal—the AI game box. The product will localize AI large models and combine them with motion-sensing game consoles, allowing users to enjoy multiple games without the need for controllers or wearing any devices. At present, the first batch of devices has been delivered to consumers, and the market test experience has exceeded expectations.

Gao Yuan, a senior analyst in the Electronics team at China Renaissance Securities, believes that the release of such products shows that AI terminals are not limited to AI phones, AI PCs, and AI glasses. There will also be a large number of lightweight AI consumer hardware products with relatively lower costs, targeted at specific scenarios—truly unlocking incremental demand within niche scenarios. Across the industrial chain, new opportunities mainly lie in four directions: edge AI SoCs; cameras and visual modules; AI vision algorithms and content ecosystems; and complete-device brands and ODMs.

As multiple major on-device AI products are released one after another, upstream and downstream companies in the industrial chain are expected to see new growth opportunities.

A reporter learned from the industry that optical industry leader Sunny Optical Technology has continued its prior product cooperation, taking on lens, main camera, and telephoto module orders for the Doubao AI agent smartphone. Sunny Optical Technology’s chairman Wang Jinqiong previously said in an exclusive interview with reporters that the company is accelerating its transition to “a manufacturer plus intelligent optical system solution provider (complete-device solution provider).”

Privacy and security are among the core competitive strengths of on-device AI terminals. Some industry insiders say that Goodix Technology will supply products related to in-display fingerprint recognition, audio power amplification, and screen touch for the Doubao AI agent smartphone. Meixin Sheng’s wireless charging chip has previously been successfully used in the AI phone that Doubao and ZTE jointly launched, meeting its needs for wireless charging efficiency and battery life. The company says it will continue to deepen R&D in cutting-edge sensing technologies such as AI sensors, continuously seize opportunities for the development of AI terminal ecosystems such as AI phones and AI glasses, and promote product deployment across a wider range of application scenarios.

On July 10, relevant A-share concept stocks rose strongly in tandem, and sector market heat continued to climb. Skyworth Digital surged to its daily limit, while Goer Shares rose by more than 5%.

As a core cooperation partner, ZTE continues its forward-looking planning of key AI phone technologies. In its quarterly performance briefing for the first quarter of this year, the company mentioned that it is further upgrading system-level AI capabilities, integrating ZTE’s self-developed Co Claw intelligent scheduling technology to achieve seamless coordination across applications and across ecosystems. It supports automated task execution in more complex scenarios, improving users’ operational efficiency and interaction intelligence.

Source: Shanghai Securities News

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