Chinese LLM makers push into AI hardware to grab entry points and revenue
On Oct 13, StepFun chairman Yin Qi unveiled the STEPX Neo agent phone in Shanghai, while Alibaba's Qwen released two AI glasses and an AI headset in Hangzhou the same day, with both events showcasing AI capabilities. Earlier, ByteDance and ZTE's Nubia NaviX Ultra — better known as the "Doubao phone" — went on sale Sept 16 with over 360,000 reservations on JD.com, and Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform launched Sept 2 in Shenzhen with nine co-branded hardware devices spanning glasses, earbuds, recording cards and speakers. A former executive at a leading Chinese LLM company is quoted saying the push is mainly about capturing entry points, since users show little loyalty to models, and that selling devices is another monetization path; listed Zhipu spent 2.131 billion yuan on R&D in the first half, about 2.2x revenue, while MiniMax spent US$297 million, roughly 2.5x revenue, with both loss-making. The report notes no LLM company has disclosed accurate AI hardware sales figures, and hands-on tests found weak real-time translation accuracy and an AI phone that failed to complete a takeout order in several minutes.
It shows Chinese LLM companies, facing weak app monetization and R&D spending far above revenue, are turning to hardware to lock in users — though product experience and actual sales remain unproven.