Counterpoint: Top mobile phone manufacturers collaborate with ecosystem partners to accelerate the implementation of AI.

Counterpoint predicts that by 2028, GenAI smartphones will account for over 54% of global smartphone shipments, with a total stock exceeding 1 billion units. Various GenAI use cases will become widespread on flagship and mid-range models through OS upgrades and the release of new models. Ecosystem collaboration between smartphone manufacturers, large-scale language model (LLM) providers, and SoC manufacturers will also accelerate the implementation and popularization of GenAI in smartphones. Furthermore, the penetration rate of 5G and the increasing AI computing power at the edge will further drive the popularization of GenAI across all price segments of smartphones. The emergence of GenAI in smartphones is not a passing trend. It is expected that GenAI smartphone shipments will experience significant growth in the future, with an acceleration starting from 2025. According to Counterpoint Research's AI 360 service forecast, by 2028, GenAI smartphones will account for over 54% of global smartphone shipments, with a total stock exceeding 1 billion units. The mainstream GenAI use cases: from multimodal information retrieval to intelligent cameras Currently, GenAI use cases are widely present on flagship and mid-range smartphones. This increasing accessibility ensures that more users in the market can experience the benefits brought by AI-driven innovations. For example, in the mass market segment, the recently released OPPO Reno13 series offers impressive GenAI features such as AI anti-ghosting, AI anti-glare, and AI document summarization. Last year, OPPO introduced GenAI features in all its smartphone product lines, with approximately 50 million OPPO users experiencing GenAI on their smartphones. Ecosystem collaboration is crucial for accelerated growth Key players in the ecosystem, including Android smartphone manufacturers, SoC providers, LLM developers, and the expanding AI software ecosystem, are collaborating to accelerate the integration of GenAI and smartphones. One of the latest developments in ecosystem collaboration is the newly released Reno13 series, where OPPO partnered with MediaTek to optimize the Dimensity 8350 for GenAI applications. The Dimensity 8350 provides 8 times faster GenAI processing speed and 3.3 times overall AI performance improvement. This collaboration, combined with OPPO's HyperTone engine, offers an optimized imaging AI experience. 5G is a key driving factor The increasing adoption of 5G technology will play a crucial role in the popularization of GenAI. The high bandwidth and low latency of 5G enable smooth access to cloud AI resources, promoting the application of hybrid GenAI models, especially on mid-range smartphones. Chinese smartphone manufacturers are actively developing large language models (LLM) for global users. They are introducing new AI features, creating new user habits, such as using interactive voice assistants for search, information retrieval, image and text generation. Counterpoint predicts that by 2028, global 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 1 billion units in 2026, with a 5G smartphone penetration rate of over 85% by 2028. The increasing AI computing power at the edge As 5G networks promote the development of cloud AI applications, the edge AI computing power of flagship smartphones will continue to experience rapid growth, with current SoCs having over 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of computing power. This local processing power makes AI task execution faster and more efficient. For example, the latest OPPO Find X8 series is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chip, which features the 8th generation NPU from MediaTek and excellent GenAI performance. It offers an 80% speed improvement in processing LLM prompts and a 35% energy efficiency improvement in executing AI tasks. Counterpoint predicts that dedicated AI computing units will become standard in all 5G SoCs, with the highest AI computing power on flagship platforms expected to reach 70 TOPS by 2027. The continuous growth in computing power will allow smartphones to unlock more complex AI edge functions. Strong hardware, collaborative ecosystems, widespread 5G adoption, cost reductions, and the combination of hybrid deployment models are driving the rapid popularization of AI in smartphones.