Advertisement
Artificial intelligence
TechTech Trends

Chinese smartphone vendors from Meizu to Oppo step up AI integration in their devices amid expected industry recovery in 2024

  • Meizu said it is terminating all traditional smartphone projects to focus on developing artificial intelligence-enabled handsets
  • Oppo expects the ‘AI phone era’ to significantly change the course of the global smartphone industry over the next five years

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Chinese smartphone vendor Meizu announced its pivot to developing artificial intelligence-enabled handsets on February 18, 2024. Photo: Shutterstock
Ben Jiangin BeijingandIris Dengin Shenzhen
Chinese smartphone vendors from Meizu to global top five-ranked Oppo are accelerating efforts to integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology into their handsets to boost sales, as the industry expects to recover this year from a lengthy slump.
Advertisement
Meizu, which was acquired in 2022 by carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, on Sunday announced that it will “terminate new projects on traditional smartphones” to pursue an “all in AI” strategy over the next three years, according to a statement posted in the firm’s WeChat account.
Headquartered in Zhuhai, a city in southern Guangdong province, Meizu said it will develop devices and a customised mobile operating system that would be open to all large language models (LLMs) – the technology used to train generative AI services – including those from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT.

“Meizu will build an ecosystem to fully open its AI devices to leading global LLM providers, including OpenAI, to jointly promote AI innovation and development,” the company said.

An Oppo internal letter released on February 18, 2024, said the impact of artificial intelligence on its industry would be comparable to the period when smartphones replaced feature phones. Photo: Shutterstock
An Oppo internal letter released on February 18, 2024, said the impact of artificial intelligence on its industry would be comparable to the period when smartphones replaced feature phones. Photo: Shutterstock
Increased AI integration in Chinese smartphones shows how a new tech arms race in the industry is heating up, several weeks after Samsung Electronics unveiled its new Galaxy S24 handsets with AI features based on Google’s Gemini technology.
Advertisement
Oppo – the world’s fourth-largest smartphone vendor in 2023, according to research firm IDC – also announced on Sunday the start of its “AI phone era”, as it pushes forward the development of its own LLM called AndesGPT, according to an internal letter from company founder and chief executive Tony Chen Mingyong.
Advertisement