BEIJING — Imagine if Amazon gave 20% discounts for every purchase made using an iPhone Air.
That’s essentially how Chinese smartphone company Honor wants to attract local buyers — by giving them an on-device AI tool that lets them quickly compare deals across Chinese e-commerce sites, including JD.com
and different merchants on Alibaba
’s Taobao. In one example seen by CNBC, the Honor AI-powered shopping search helped save 20% since the tool was able to find coupons that a user might otherwise overlook.
The features and a slew of other AI functions are set to roll out Wednesday on Honor’s newly launched Magic8 smartphone as well as the company’s other devices in China. The timing is notable. China is entering its busiest shopping season of the year akin to Black Friday: the Nov. 11 Singles Day promotional period.
