According to a report by Counterpoint Research, the coming year will be pivotal for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) smartphones with preliminary data projecting their shipments to reach over 100 million units in 2024. By 2027, GenAI smartphone shipments are expected to reach 522 million units, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 83 per cent.
Counterpoint Research defines GenAI smartphones as a subset of AI smartphones that uses GenAI to create original content, rather than just providing pre-programmed responses or performing predefined tasks. These devices will run size-optimised AI models natively and come with certain hardware specifications. Counterpoint’s short-term GenAI landscape sees original equipment manufacturer (OEM) roadmaps touching on four main areas – info provisioning, image building, live translation, and personal assistant applications.
As per the report, Samsung and Qualcomm are immediate leaders as current product offerings and capabilities position them as first movers. Samsung is likely to capture almost 50% share for the next two years, followed by key Chinese OEMs such as Xiaomi, vivo, HONOR and OPPO. Samsung earlier highlighted the use case of its Galaxy AI on smartphones. This is one example of how OEMs are geared to differentiate their upcoming smartphones and GenAI will play a key role in that differentiation. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is likely to capture over 80 per cent of the GenAI smartphone market for the next two years. MediaTek is likely to catch up with its Dimensity 9300-based devices.
Commenting on the report, Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research, said, “The share of GenAI smartphones in the overall smartphone market will be in single digits through next year. But those numbers will not accurately reflect the amount of excitement and marketing hyperbole we are expecting to see. We are working to a standard definition developed with our clients and partners, reflecting inputs from across these key players. Next year is about learning and we expect GenAI smartphones to hit an inflection point in 2026 as the devices permeate through the broader price segments.”
Meanwhile, Peter Richardson, vice president and research director, said, “AI has been a feature of smartphones for the last few years. We now expect to see the emergence of smartphones optimized to run GenAI models in addition to the normal use of AI in smartphones. The likely use cases will include creating more personalized content, smarter digital assistants with unique personalities and conversation styles, content recommendations, and more. However, this will also require addressing issues like running into memory constraints and will likely lead to a hybrid approach in some cases. Nonetheless, one thing is for certain – we are entering an era where smartphone users no longer need to align to their devices; it will be the other way around with GenAI smartphones.”
