ByteDance and ZTE Nubia team up for AI phones, multiple models in 2026

ByteDance is teaming up with ZTE's Nubia brand to launch several 'Doubao AI Agent phones' in 2026. One model will debut at the 2026 World AI Conference, with total stock around 200,000 units and first batch under 100,000. Supply chain sources say initial orders were much larger than the previous generation, with some parts exceeding a million, but rising component costs led to cuts from 300,000 to about 200,000. Nubia today teased the phone's design, including a new pink color option. ZTE's terminal president Ni Fei said Nubia got the first approval for its AI agent model, making this the first phone to run such a system, so users can trust it with tasks.