On October 1, AITO Automobile officially announced that Huawei and Seres held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony for the upgrade of the AITO business in Shenzhen on September 30. The two sides reached a new five-year cooperation agreement, jointly establishing a dedicated team for the AITO business to promote the brand upgrade. Huawei's Executive Director Yu Chengdong and Seres' Chairman Zhang Xinghai attended the event.

This signing does not represent new cooperation but is a formal confirmation of the adjustment to the cooperation model announced by both parties on September 15. After the adjustment, Seres will take the lead in product definition, product design, brand marketing, channel retail, and service systems for AITO, while Huawei's consumer business will participate by providing support and continue to offer technical solutions such as the HarmonyOS cockpit and Qiankun Intelligent Driving. AITO will remain part of the Harmony Intelligent Mobility ecosystem, with no impact on existing user rights and subsequent services.

Previously, AITO adopted Huawei's Smart Selection vehicle model, with Huawei deeply involved in products, channels, marketing, and services. As Harmony Intelligent Mobility expands to include multiple brands such as AITO, Luxeed, Enjoyment, Prestige, and Style, Huawei needs to allocate more resources to new brands, reducing AITO's exclusive advantages within the ecosystem. In the first half of 2026, AITO's share of Harmony Intelligent Mobility sales had dropped to about 60%.

For Seres, under the old model, it had to bear rigid expenses such as hardware procurement, technology licensing, and channel service fees. Under price wars and cost pressures, its profit margins were significantly compressed. In the first half of 2026, Seres reported revenue of RMB 57.493 billion and a net loss attributable to the parent company of RMB 1.717 billion, compared to a profit of RMB 2.941 billion in the same period last year. With Seres taking the lead, the structure of channel service fees will be adjusted, giving Seres greater operational autonomy but also requiring it to independently bear channel, marketing, and after-sales costs.

The two sides remain capital-bound. Seres acquired the AITO trademark and related patents for RMB 2.5 billion in 2024 and purchased a 10% stake in Huawei's Aito Technology for RMB 11.5 billion. This means the legal ownership of the AITO brand and the supply of core technologies remain intact, with the main change being operational control.

The real focus now is whether the channel transition can be completed smoothly. According to the plan, AITO will move towards exclusive operations, with Seres taking full control from January 1, 2027, and some former Harmony Intelligent Mobility stores being transferred to Seres' operation. In the short term, the endorsement of AITO by Huawei stores will weaken, and Seres needs to prove its ability to uphold AITO's premium positioning in product definition, brand marketing, and channel services. For Huawei, after relinquishing front-end operations of AITO, whether it can concentrate resources on new brands such as Luxeed, Enjoyment, Prestige, and Style will be key to the next stage of Harmony Intelligent Mobility.