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In 2022, global smartphone shipments declined by 12% to 1.2 billion units, the lowest in a decade. The decline was mostly due to poor consumer demand. A growing number of consumers are not opting for device upgrades, primarily because they see minimal distinctions between the current and the earlier models, which already boast advanced cameras and processors.
To ramp up sales and usher in the next wave of innovations in smartphones, phonemakers are now turning their attention to generative AI. At the recently held Samsung AI Forum, the South Korea-based manufacturing conglomerate showcased an on-device AI technology that incorporates Gauss, its generative AI models, with various smart devices, the KoreaTimes reported.
However, Samsung’s plan is not just about bringing generative AI to its devices. It plans to bring out the ‘most powerful AI phone’ to date, disrupting the smartphone market significantly.
By incorporating genAI across its entire range of devices, Samsung aims to secure a substantial market share, but formidable competition looms from rivals such as Apple, Google, and Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
Phonemakers now believe generative AI could be a key selling point to boost their sales in the market. Alex Katouzian, SVP and GM of Qualcomm’s mobile, compute, and XR, told indianexpress.com that if there was something most likely to trigger an upgrade cycle for smartphones, it was generative AI.
Race to bring generative AI to smartphones
Apple, the most popular smartphone maker, is also working towards introducing a host of generative AI features in iOS 18, which is expected to be released in 2024, Bloomberg reported.
Apple, which has been working on generative AI for years, was surprised by the genAI explosion after OpenAI opened ChatGPT to the world. The company is now looking to significantly improve Siri, its voice assistant feature, with generative AI.
Additionally, Apple is exploring the integration of AI features into other first-party apps, such as Apple Music, potentially introducing auto-generated playlists, akin to Spotify. Notably, applications like Pages and Keynote are in line for substantial AI enhancements too.
Furthermore, Apple is contemplating various approaches to implement generative AI, weighing options like a comprehensive on-device experience, a cloud-based model, or a hybrid combination of both.
Last month, Google, currently trailing in the AI arms race, looked to heavily monetise generative AI in the phone market. Last month, the tech giant released Pixel 8 series, which comes with genAI features such as magic editor, call assistant, audio magic eraser, and photo unblur, among other things.
Bindu Reddy, CEO of abacus.ai posted on X that Search is a dying business, but, luckily for Google, Android space presents a growth opportunity and can off-set Search.
Tough competition from China
Over the past few years, Chinese phonemakers have made a significant headwind in the smartphone space. Many of them were already in the race to be the first to bring generative AI to smartphones.
Xiaomi, which accounts for around 11% of the global smartphone market compared to Samsung’s 22%, has already introduced a host of such capabilities on its smartphones. Xiaomi 14, which runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, can run an AI model with 1.3 billion parameters locally on the phone.
In August, Xiaomi’s founder and CEO, Lei Jun, revealed the integration of generative AI capabilities into the company’s digital assistant, Xiao Ai.
Similarly, earlier this month, Vivo also launched the X100 smartphone, which also runs a 7 billion parameter language model and a 1 billion parameter vision model locally on the device. Other Chinese phonemakers such as Oppo and Realme, are also following suit.
Hardware
Bringing generative AI capabilities to smartphones, Samsung recently unveiled the Exynos 2400 processor, which features AMD’s latest RDNA3-based Xclipse 940 GPU. The company claims Exynos 2400 offers a 1.7x increase in CPU performance and a 14.7x boost in AI performance compared to the Exynos 2200.
Reports also suggest that Exynos 2400 will debut on Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24+ handsets, which will have generative AI capabilities.
In the hardware space, companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek are making great strides. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors power some of the most popular Android phones in the world. Notably, many Samsung smartphones are also powered by the Snapdragon processors.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is already powering Xiaomi 14 series of smartphones. Last month, the San Diego-based semiconductor company announced the Snapdragon X Elite, which is capable of running generative AI models with over 13 billion parameters on-device and continues to expand Qualcomm’s AI leadership with 4.5 times faster AI processing power than competitors.
Similarly, earlier this week, MediaTek launched the Dimensity 8300 chipset, which comes with full generative AI support facilitated by the APU 780 AI processor integrated into the chipset.
“The Dimensity 8300 unlocks new possibilities for the premium smartphone segment, offering users in-hand AI, hyper-realistic entertainment opportunities, and seamless connectivity without sacrificing efficiency,” according to the company.
Notably, the Vivo X100 smartphone is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300. The new Dimensity 8300 would directly compete with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos.
However, as it stands, the developments made in the hardware would mean generative AI capabilities would be limited to premium smartphones now. Samsung’s success will also depend on its ability to bring generative AI quickly to its smartphones in all price segments.
