“Doubao Phone” Rolling Out This Month
On September 1st, word got out that the Nubia NaviX Ultra has officially snagged its network access license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That means it’s cleared all the regulatory hoops, from big-model filing to terminal access, and is ready to hit the big time with full-scale commercial rollout. Word is, this phone will come loaded with the Doubao assistant, positioned as a flagship volume-seller, and it’s slated to drop and go on sale sometime in September.
Unitree Fires Back at Claims That Expenses Over 100 Yuan Need Wang Xingxing’s Sign-Off
On September 1st, hashtags like “Unitree employees say reimbursements over 100 yuan need Wang Xingxing’s approval” and “Unitree’s reward system is all penalties, barely any rewards” started trending and stirring up chatter online. According to The Paper, Unitree Tech responded bluntly: “A lot of that is inaccurate. Don’t take it at face value.”
Earlier reports had painted a picture of Wang as a straight-talking, tough boss—someone who expects employees to keep mum about internal matters, obsesses over product details (down to the length of a screw), watches every penny like a hawk, and rarely chats about anything outside of work.
Douyin Responds to Algorithm Chaos
From the evening of August 31st into September 1st, Douyin hit a rough patch with widespread service hiccups. The home-feed recommendation algorithm went haywire, flooding users with content that had zero connection to their usual interests. The phrase “Douyin recommendations are a mess” even shot to the top spot on Weibo’s hot search, racking up 550 million views and 180,000 interactions.
When asked about the algorithm meltdown, customer service told the Daily Economic News that a ton of users have already flagged the same issue, and the platform is on it—running diagnostics and fine-tuning things. They added that once the optimization wraps up, everything should snap back to normal. When pressed on whether they’d pinpointed the root cause, the rep said: “We’re still investigating and optimizing—it’s tied to system adjustments.” As for a concrete timeline, they said the team’s already on it, but no official ETA has been shared yet, so they can’t commit to a specific date.
Beyond the messed-up feed, reports also surfaced about core features glitching out in some regions—blank search pages, undeliverable DMs, and the like. As of this writing, Douyin hasn’t offered any further comment on the algorithm mess.
Tim Cook Steps Down as Apple CEO: Stock Up 2,275% on His Watch
On September 1st, Tim Cook officially handed over the CEO reins at Apple to John Ternus. The numbers tell a wild story: since Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, Apple’s stock has climbed a jaw-dropping 2,275%, and with dividends factored in, the total return hits 2,736%. For context, the S&P 500 only managed a 769% gain in the same stretch.
Under Cook’s leadership, Apple’s revenue ballooned from $157 billion in fiscal 2012 to $416 billion last fiscal year. Services became a serious growth engine, pulling in over $109 billion in fiscal 2025. The company also went on a buyback spree, repurchasing more than $840 billion in stock, which slashed its share count by nearly 45% from the 2012 peak.
That said, Apple’s AI game has drawn its fair share of skepticism from the market, and that’s shaping up to be Ternus’s biggest headache right out of the gate. Apple’s got a product event locked in for September 9th, and speculation is running hot that they’ll finally unveil a foldable iPhone—which would be Ternus’s first major product test. Meanwhile, Apple’s trading at a P/E ratio of around 33x, well above its 10-year average of 23x, so the market’s expecting some serious growth to justify that premium.
OPPO Stores: Multiple Models Getting Price Hikes This Month
On September 1st, NUPIAO learned from several Shanghai stores that OPPO is bumping up prices on multiple models this month. The affected lineup includes the OPPO Reno16 series and the OnePlus Turbo 6X Pro series, with increases ranging from 300 to 500 yuan. Some stores have already swapped out the price tags—the OPPO Reno16 has been relabeled as the OPPO Reno16t.
A sales rep at an OPPO store in Shanghai’s Xuhui District told NUPIAO that the company gave them a heads-up about the price changes first thing in the morning. They’ve already put up the new price signage, just waiting for the official notice to drop—which they’re expecting on September 7th.
Meizu Weighs In on Phone Price Hikes
On September 1st, @MeizuTech posted on social media that price increases are something the whole industry is grappling with right now. After internal discussions, they’ve decided to raise prices after the National Day holiday.
Huawei, Xiaomi, and Honor Respond to Price Hikes
According to media reports, major brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Honor have all recently jacked up prices across a range of models. Huawei’s customer service explained that key component prices have shifted in the market, driving up production costs, so they’ve adjusted retail prices accordingly. Xiaomi’s support team said the rising procurement costs for core components pushed them to tweak retail prices on certain products. Honor’s reps chimed in, saying product pricing and promotions are always adjusted based on market demand, so after a thorough review, they made some appropriate price tweaks.
Sun Dongxu’s New Venture “Beautiful Tomorrow” Offers 30 Days of Annual Leave
On August 31st, Sun Dongxu’s new company “Beautiful Tomorrow” dropped a video announcement. In it, Sun revealed that every employee gets 30 days of paid annual leave per year—and that’s on top of weekends and public holidays. His colleague Tianquan added that this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays will be combined into one extended break. “Beautiful Tomorrow” is a joint venture co-founded by Sun Dongxu (former CEO of East Buy), along with former streamers Mingming and Tianquan.
Samsung Reportedly Locks In ~70% of Memory Chip Capacity Through 2031
On September 1st, reports surfaced that Samsung Electronics has committed roughly 70% of its memory chip production capacity to long-term supply agreements, with some contracts stretching all the way to 2031. Clients include heavy hitters like Nvidia and Microsoft. As AI demand keeps exploding, memory chip makers are increasingly shifting production toward the higher-margin HBM segment and using these long-term deals to lock in both supply and pricing. Industry insiders suggest this could tighten short-term memory chip availability even further, pushing prices north.
