The first smartphone running on ByteDance’s artificial intelligence agentic phone assistant sold out on the first day, as consumers jumped at the chance to try the AI-powered gadget that could change the way people use mobile phones.
The ZTE Nubia M153, an “engineering prototype” only available for order online, was keenly sought after thanks to ByteDance’s embedded operating-system-level Doubao Mobile Assistant, which is able to carry out tasks such as booking restaurants or editing photos via voice commands.
Neither ByteDance nor ZTE disclosed the number of Nubia M153s available for purchase.
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The joint effort from TikTok owner ByteDance and ZTE, a second-tier Chinese smartphone maker, is the latest example of China’s advantages in combining AI capabilities with conventional consumer gadgets to bring the power of AI to ordinary consumers.
The limited-availability prototype phone, priced at 3,499 yuan (US$494), had sold out by Monday evening. Customer service was asking buyers to submit requests for the number of phones they wanted to purchase, as production would be tailored based on demand.
The scarcity immediately inflated prices on the second-hand market. On Xianyu, an online flea market owned by Alibaba Group Holding, the phone was being resold for up to 4,999 yuan, a 43 per cent premium to the original price. Alibaba owns the Post.
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