Since the Samsung Galaxy S24 series launched the “first AI phone”, the wave of AI phones has been more ferocious than expected.
Apple abandoned car construction and switched to generative AI projects, while the more aggressive ones in China were OPPO and Meizu. One announced “the beginning of a new era of AI phones,” while the other said “it will stop a new traditional smartphone project,” all in AI.
Earlier, Fruit Chain analyst Guo Mingyi said that given the popularity of generative artificial intelligence in 2023, it is easy to predict that Apple will launch related innovative features in the iPhone 16. Apple reshuffled the Siri team in the third quarter of 2023, with the goal of integrating AIGC functionality and the Big Language Model (LLM).
Although the concept of an “AI phone” cannot be clearly defined, the prerequisites are higher computing power, stronger performance, and more intelligent voice recognition, image processing, intelligent recommendations, etc. Among them, more intelligent speech recognition and processing capabilities are in the first tier of “AI mobile phone” performance upgrades.
Guo Mingyi believes that voice input will be a key interface for AI, so Apple's strengthening the functions and specifications of Siri's software and hardware is the key to promoting AiGC. His latest survey shows that all iPhone 16 microphones will be significantly upgraded, and a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) will be a key specification upgrade. It is estimated that the unit price of the new iPhone's microphone will be about 100%-150% higher than the iPhone 15. Additionally, the waterproof performance of the new microphone will also be improved. Guo Mingyi said that the microphone suppliers for the iPhone 16 series are AAC (Ruisheng Technology) and Goertek (Goertek).
It is worth noting that Ruisheng Technology also clearly stated at the latest investor conference that the AI wave is driving more demand for intelligent voice interaction and is expected to bring more opportunities to the company's MEMS microphone business. In 2024, high signal-to-noise ratio microphone products are expected to continue to be introduced into high-end models to achieve large-scale popularization, and terminal applications are estimated to reach 50 million units or more in 2025.
Ruisheng Technology is relatively early in the field of high signal-to-noise ratio products. Products from 64dB to 70dB have already entered mass production, which helps to significantly improve ASP. At the same time, Ruisheng Technology continues to promote self-developed high-performance MEMS microphones. In 2023, Android devices accounted for more than 50% of the shipments of medium- and high-value products, an increase of about 17 percentage points over the previous year, leading the industry to upgrade to the middle and high-end.
According to the international data company IDC, global shipments of next-generation AI phones will reach 170 million units in 2024, accounting for about 15% of total smartphone shipments. Meanwhile, in the Chinese market, with the rapid iteration of new chips and user usage scenarios, the share of next-generation AI phones will rise rapidly after 2024, reaching 150 million units in 2027, with a market share of more than 50%.