According to Zhichacha, citing Tencent Technology, the deep collaboration between ZTE and ByteDance has entered a period of harvest. The new generation of DotBao AI phones jointly developed by the two companies are expected to be officially launched in the middle to late second quarter of 2026. This product is regarded as the culmination of ZTE's strategic transformation in its terminal business, aiming to evolve AI from a simple conversation tool into an "intelligent agent" with autonomous capabilities.

Past Performance: Engineering Models Sold for 36,000 Yuan, Hard to Get

The high anticipation for this new model stems from the impressive performance of its predecessor.

  • Low-key Launch, High-profile Success: In December 2025, the Nubia M153 DotBao AI phone, a result of the collaboration between the two companies, was released in small quantities (only 30,000 units) as an engineering prototype.

  • Surprising Premium: Due to its unique system-level AI experience, the device was once sold for as much as 36,000 yuan on the second-hand market, becoming the year's top digital investment product.

Core Logic: Deep Integration of Large Models and System-Level Permissions

Different from common "shell" AI applications on the market, the collaboration between ZTE and ByteDance follows a system-level deep integration approach:

  • Permission Opening: ByteDance's DotBao large model is directly integrated with the ZTE system's underlying permissions.

  • Autonomous Cross-Application: AI is no longer limited to answering questions but can understand complex instructions and perform autonomous task scheduling across apps, completely changing the way users interact with their phones.

Strategic Positioning: Self-Developed Platform “Co-Claw” Launched Simultaneously

At the recent Boao Forum for Asia, ZTE Chairman further revealed the company's grand vision for AI:

  • Self-Developed Platform: ZTE's self-developed intelligent agent platform "Co-Claw" has been officially launched.

  • Parallel Development: While deepening its collaboration with ByteDance, ZTE will also launch AI phones based on its self-developed platform within the year, building a full-stack AI capability.

Industry Insight: ZTE's "AI Visibility" Is Returning

For a long time, ZTE's presence in the terminal market has been relatively quiet. However, through a strong partnership with partners like ByteDance, which have top-tier algorithms and traffic, ZTE is successfully leveraging the high-visibility label of DotBao AI to quickly increase its brand visibility in the era of AI phones.

Conclusion: AI Phones Enter the "Intelligent Agent" Era

When phones begin to gain the ability to think and act autonomously, traditional operating system logic is facing deconstruction. The "full-stack" experiment between ZTE and ByteDance may be a key puzzle piece in the future form of mobile terminals.