NEW DELHI: Shipments of generative artificial intelligence or GenAI smartphones will top over 100 million units in 2024, and grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 83% to reach 522 million units by 2027, according to the preliminary data released by Counterpoint Research on Wednesday.

Similar to its performance in foldables, Samsung is expected to capture almost a 50% share for the next two years followed by key Chinese original equipment makers (OEMs) Xiaomi, Vivo, Honor and Oppo, as per the research firm. It noted that GenAI will play a key role in helping OEMs to differentiate their devices.

Counterpoint said GenAI smartphones are a subset of AI smartphones that use Generative AI to create original content, rather than just providing pre-programmed responses or performing predefined tasks.

“These devices will run size-optimized AI models natively and come with certain hardware specifications. Our short-term GenAI landscape sees OEM roadmaps touching on four main areas – info provisioning, image building, live translation, and personal assistant applications,” the research firm said.

Qualcomm is likely to capture over 80% of the GenAI smartphone market for the next two years. MediaTek is likely to catch up with its Dimensity 9300-based devices, according to Counterpoint.

Research Director Tarun Pathak 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.”

“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,” Pathak added.

VP & Research Director Peter Richardson said the likely use cases of GenAI on smartphones will include creating more personalised 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,” Richardson said.