Smart-hardware rush: Chinese device makers think they can do everything

AI wants a body — and hardware companies are answering

Chinese smart-hardware firms are racing out of their lanes. Why? Because AI no longer wants to live only as chatbots and content generators — it needs a physical carrier. The result is a wave of cross‑category expansion: DJI (大疆) reportedly moving into robot vacuums, Insta360 (影石) branching into drones and even gold trading, JIMMY (追觅) stretching from vacuums to cars, robots and rockets. Phone makers such as Xiaomi (小米), vivo (vivo) and Huawei (华为) are all pushing smart‑glasses; Honor (荣耀) has explicitly rebranded toward an “AI terminal ecosystem.” It’s a scramble for the next consumer gateway to AI.

Capital, talent and a hardware halo

Investors have answered in force. Money from USD funds, VCs, PEs, corporate VCs, local government funds and even platform venture arms like Xiaohongshu Ventures (小红书创投) has poured into hardware bets. It has been reported that alumni from marquee firms such as DJI (大疆), Insta360 (影石) and Anker (安克) attract outsized early‑stage valuations simply on the strength of their pedigree. The prevailing investor logic in 2025: “AI without hardware is hollow.” That belief is reshaping deal flow and making hardware entrepreneurship the hot ticket — for better and worse.

Competition, supply‑chain fences and legal fights

A feeding frenzy has produced both aggressive supply‑chain tactics and a spike in patent litigation. It has been reported that core suppliers faced “exclusive” pressure as leading firms sought to lock up modules and components. Patent suits over semantic mapping and multimodal interaction proliferated between the likes of JIMMY (追觅), Ecovacs (科沃斯) and Roborock (石头科技). At the same time, marketing tactics have grown ugly: coordinated negative campaigns and “public‑opinion” warfare became common in crowded categories such as robot vacuums and AR glasses.

Bubble, white‑labeling and a Darwinian reset

Not every expansion will stick. The surge has created white‑label commoditization: hundreds of smart‑ring brands, AI glasses sold on the same OEM molds, and products that at best act as Bluetooth earbuds with a weather widget. The result: brutal price wars, thinning margins and layoffs at once‑promising startups such as HanYang Technology (汉阳科技), KuBo Intelligent (库博智能) and Benmo Technology (本末科技), according to reports. Geopolitics looms in the background too — export controls and sanctions have only hardened the incentive to own hardware and supply chains domestically. The key question for 2026: will Chinese device makers build defensible ecosystems around unique algorithms and supply advantages, or will the category collapse into another low‑margin commodity battleground?