Recently, there has been a noticeable price fluctuation of the Nubia M153 (also known as the “Bean AI Phone”), a product launched in collaboration by ByteDance and ZTE on second-hand trading platforms. On platforms like Xianyu, the price of this model ranges from tens of thousands to millions of yuan, with product descriptions boasting features like “future entry,” “automatic operation,” and “powerful functions.” However, most offline channel merchants have stated that they do not have this phone in stock. The contrasting online hype and offline tepid response have sparked discussions in the market about the technological path and commercial prospects of AI phones.
On December 1st, ByteDance’s bean team officially released a preview version of the Bean Phone Assistant technology. The Nubia M153, the first phone to feature this technology under ZTE, was priced at 3499 yuan but was hyped in the market to tens of thousands of yuan. The concept of AI phones triggered a frenzy in the consumer electronics sector on that day, resulting in ZTE’s stocks surging. However, the following day, ZTE’s A-shares and H-shares both dropped, with H-shares plummeting by over 6% at one point.
On second-hand trading platforms, the prices surrounding this model quickly soared. On the night of December 11th, searching for “Bean AI Phone” on Xianyu platform revealed four sellers listing it at prices ranging from 1 million yuan to 28,000 yuan. As of December 15th, these high-priced listings were still up, with the number of interested buyers increasing from just a few to 35.
The “listing prices” and “interest” on the second-hand platform are more symbolic and do not necessarily reflect actual transactions or genuine demand.
According to a report by the Huaxia Times on December 15th, a seller on Xianyu stated, “The price fluctuations are quite significant. When it was at its lowest, you could buy it for less than 4000 yuan, 3800 yuan could get it. The price keeps changing; it’s very random, sometimes like riding a roller coaster.”
Regarding the clear deviation between price and actual value, Yau Ka Kwan, founder and president of the Artificial Intelligence Association at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), believes that this mostly reflects speculative sentiment at a particular stage, rather than rational market choices. This product is essentially still an engineering prototype in a technical preview stage, with limited supply. The combination of scarcity and narrative concepts can easily amplify price fluctuations.
After the release of the Nubia M153, controversies surrounding the user experience began to surface. On December 9th, Nubia’s CEO responded that they were working on addressing the issues raised with their partners.
Subsequently, some users reported experiencing issues when using the Bean Phone Assistant on the Nubia M153, such as abnormal exits or inability to log in when using WeChat. Additionally, mobile banking and financial apps like AgBank, and Construct Bank apps have implemented monitoring and restrictions on the AI and screen sharing functionalities, requiring users to disable the AI Phone Assistant before usage. Media tests also revealed restrictions on the login behavior of this model on some e-commerce platforms.
Industry experts point out that these phenomena are not targeted at a specific product but rather an extension of existing risk control strategies for automated operations and non-human behaviors in the current mobile internet ecosystem within new technological scenarios.
In contrast to the “sky-high” prices online, offline channels have maintained a cautious attitude towards this model overall.
A recent visit to the Huaqiangbei market in Shenzhen by the Huaxia Times revealed that many merchants were unfamiliar with the Nubia M153. Despite rumors circulating online about its price exceeding 30,000 yuan, channel-side merchants are hesitant to stock up. One merchant, Lan Hao, mentioned, “We have never seen or heard of this brand. If we bring it in and its price crashes, we can’t afford that loss. Besides, this is not a field or brand we are familiar with.”
In the Far East Digital Plaza of Huaqiangbei, a staff member, Lin Yao Jiu, confirmed the unavailability of this model in their market, stating, “This phone is not yet being sold in our market, and we don’t have it available offline.” When asked for the reason, he analyzed, “Perhaps because this phone currently has low recognition, and many people are not very interested in its features and may not find it as trustworthy as those big brands.”
Another merchant at Huaqiangbei, Nini, stated that they would only consider stocking up if there was a clear consumer demand driving it.
The report noted that the rapid entrapment of this phone in the embarrassing dilemma of being “pricey but not marketable” can be attributed to the technological path it chose, which conflicted with the core rules of the existing mobile internet ecosystem.
In terms of technology, the Bean AI Phone differs significantly from traditional voice assistants. Yau Ka Kwan pointed out that the product operates by collecting screen image information and executing operations through simulated clicks and swipes to achieve “visual understanding” of the phone interface.
“From a technical perspective, this is an attempt to have AI directly play the role of the ‘user,'” Yau Ka Kwan stated. This implies that at a system level, AI theoretically has the ability to carry out operations like payment confirmation and information sending. While showcasing the potential of the technology, this design inevitably challenges the security mechanisms and data loops on which super apps rely.
When the entity executing operations is not a human user but a system-level AI, “AI plays the role of a person, having the authority to perform a series of operations like clicking to confirm payments, sending messages, or deleting content,” disrupting the data loops and user profiles of existing super apps.
Previously, the Phoenix Network’s financial division, “Company Research Institute,” also cited industry insiders pointing out that the introduction of AI capabilities does not automatically compensate for deficiencies in hardware performance or system stability. The market’s expectations for AI phones still need to maintain a rational outlook.