At its AI Strategy Media Briefing, OPPO has announced a commitment to integrating AI technology into smartphones at all price levels by the end of 2024.
This ambitious goal is backed by the establishment of a dedicated AI R&D Centre and partnerships with tech giants like Google, Microsoft, MediaTek, and Qualcomm. The aim is to deliver enhanced AI features for everyday use.
The OPPO AI Centre
In February, OPPO launched the OPPO AI Centre in Shenzhen. This center focuses on developing AI capabilities in areas such as image processing, computer vision, speech technology, natural language processing, and machine learning.
A key promise from OPPO is that user data will not be used for training AI models. They have also implemented strong data security measures, including third-party certifications, end-to-end encryption, and confidential computing.
Market Insights and Growth
According to IDC’s report “Time to Democratise the Impact of AI Tech,” AI phone shipments in the sub-$1000 segment are projected to grow by 250% in 2024, reaching 35 million units.
This indicates a significant market potential for AI-enhanced smartphones, which will increasingly integrate generative AI to improve daily experiences.
Pioneering AI Developments
Since 2020, OPPO has been developing its own Large Language Models (LLMs) and has made strides in large vision models and multimodal technology. OPPO is the first smartphone brand to deploy an LLM with 7 billion parameters on a device.
This year, OPPO introduced over 100 generative AI capabilities and filed 5,399 AI patents globally, with 3,796 related to AI imaging. They have also invested heavily in technology research, including flash charging, imaging algorithms, and smart battery technology.
Furthermore, OPPO has confirmed that they will be bringing Generative AI across all OPPO smartphone products (Find, Reno, F, and A series). They also confirm that Find X is coming back to the global market.
Strategic Partnerships
To enhance its AI ecosystem, OPPO has formed strategic partnerships with Google, Microsoft, and MediaTek.
Google Partnership: OPPO’s flagship series will feature Google’s Gemini LLMs, offering AI tools like AI Writer and AI Recording Summary.
AI Writer helps with content suggestions, grammar corrections, and language translation. AI Recording Summary auto-summarizes meetings and transcripts, highlighting key details.
Microsoft Collaboration: Working with Microsoft, OPPO aims to improve voice and text conversion through Microsoft’s Fast Transcription and Neural TTS technologies.
This collaboration also enhances the integration between desktop AI and smartphones, allowing features like DESKTOP Copilot for content generation and text translation.
MediaTek Alliance: OPPO collaborates with MediaTek to develop chipsets with dedicated AI processing units.
This partnership focuses on optimizing AI features for OPPO’s hardware and software, ensuring efficient AI processing and smoother performance on their devices.
Future of AI in Smartphones
OPPO envisions a gradual transition from traditional smartphones to AI-integrated phones, transforming the mobile experience.
Nicole, GM – AI Product at OPPO, foresees intelligent operating systems embedded with AI Agents and supporting multimodal interactions.
Third-party services will become more flexible, leading to a comprehensive transformation and restructuring of the AI phone ecosystem.
Commenting on the announcement, Billy Zhang, President of Overseas MKT, Sales, and Service at OPPO, said:
With our unwavering dedication and commitment, OPPO aims to make AI phones accessible to everyone. For the first time in the industry, OPPO is introducing generative AI to all product lines. By the end of this year, we anticipate bringing generative AI features to approximately 50 million users.
Speaking about the announcement, Pete Lau, Chief Product Officer of OPPO, stated:
Next-gen AI smartphones will mark a significant transformative stage in the mobile phone industry. We are committed to being a contributor and advocate for AI smartphones. We eagerly anticipate collaborating with our industry partners to collectively propel innovation in the mobile phone industry and redefine the intelligent mobile phone experience.