MoonFox Analysis | Distribution and Interaction Transformation: AI Smartphones Enter a New Era

About us: Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ: JG) established in 2011, is a leading customer engagement and marketing technology service provider in China. Its business includes notification services, marketing growth, development tools, and data products. As its sub-brand, MoonFox Data is a leading expert in data insights and analysis services across all scenarios, aiming to help companies gain market insights and empower precise decision-making.

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --

Introduction

Since the second half of 2024, the focus in the generative AI industry has noticeably shifted from technology and models to applications and services. A range of usable AI applications in niche fields has entered the market. Beyond application-level directions like search and education, service-level directions such as AI robots and AI smartphones have also emerged as promising development areas. In this context, the pace of development for AI smartphones has significantly accelerated recently, with AI features becoming key selling points for mainstream smartphones. Based on our observations of the AI phone industry layout, AI smartphones are expected to offer users different effects and values compared to various AI applications. Then, how will AI integrate with smartphones? And what are current user evaluations? This article focuses on the AI phone sector, revealing the latest changes and potential value of the industry from key perspectives such as industry competition, typical enterprises, empowerment value, and market evaluation.

I. Industry Competition: "AI+" Becomes a New Appeal for Smartphones, with Accelerated Industry Upgrades

The smartphone industry may be entering a new replacement cycle, accelerating its recovery. Although the smartphone industry is currently in a mature development and replacement stage, policies promoting device upgrades and high-quality product designs (such as foldable screens) from domestic manufacturers continue to drive user replacements. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), in 2023, Chinese smartphone shipments totaled 289 million units, increased by 6.5% YoY. Entering 2024, the smartphone industry has continued to perform well, with shipments of 147 million units in the first half of 2024, marking a 13.2% YoY increase (according to the data from CAICT), indicating an accelerated recovery trend.

"AI+" has become a core selling point for mainstream smartphones, resonating with the industry's recovery drivers. Currently, the generative AI industry is accelerating its development towards mobile devices such as smartphones. Due to smartphones' close connection with users and their strong entry-point characteristics, they have attracted significant attention in the AI field. With reduced costs and improved capabilities of cloud-based large models, as well as ongoing development of edge models and small models, the effective deployment of AI smartphones has become feasible. Data shows that leading domestic smartphone brands and companies like SAMSUNG and China Telecom have all entered the AI phone market. System-level AI assistants have become the main application scenarios, with ongoing penetration at the user end. According to MoonFox Data, VIVO's AI assistant "Blue V" has close to 200,000 monthly active users, while HONOR's AI assistant "YOYO" has nearly 900,000 monthly active users. AI capabilities are becoming an appealing selling point that users find compelling, and they are expected to drive a new emotional experience for the smartphone market.



     The AI phone market continues to see widespread implementation of AI capabilities, with major Chinese smartphone
              manufacturers now positioning AI as a key selling point.



     Brand                                      AI Assistant            AI Large Model       
            Supported Phone Models



     OPPO                                       Breeno         
            AndesGPT             
            Find7 Series, Find N3 Series,

                                                                                                       Reno12 Series, OnePlus 12 Series, etc.



     VIVO                                       Blue V         
            Blue LM              
            X100 Series, X Fold3,

                                                                                              
            X80 Series, S17 Series, etc.



     HUAWEI                                     Celia          
            PanguLM              
            Mate60 Series, Nova Series, etc.



     HONOR                             
            YOYO                    Magic Large Model             HONOR Magic6 Series, HONOR 90 Series,
                                                                                              HONOR Magic V2 Series, etc.



     XIAOMI                                     Xiaoai                  XIAOMI Large Model   
            Xiaomi 14 Series



     China Telecom                              Xingchen AI             Xingchen AI Large    
            MVMOM 30
                                                                Model



     SAMSUNG                                    Galaxy AI               ERNIE Bot, Doubao    
            Galaxy S24 Series, etc.
                                                                Large Model


     Data Source: Public information, compiled by MoonFox Research Institute Data Cycle: August 2024


        The usage rate of AI assistant applications from mainstream smartphone brands has been steadily increasing, and these AI
        phone assistants have begun to gain visibility among users


         Brand                        MAU of VIVO AI Assistant "Blue V" (Unit:              MAU of HONOR AI Assistant "YOYO" (Unit:
                           10K)                                                  10K)


      
             2023.12                                                    0.8                                                  32.0


      
             2024.01                                                    3.9                                                  28.3


      
             2024.02                                                    5.5                                                  22.5


      
             2024.03                                                    6.9                                                  28.2


      
             2024.04                                                    9.2                                                  41.6


      
             2024.05                                                   13.6                                                  44.5


      
             2024.06                                                   18.8                                                  85.5


     Data Source: MoonFox iApp; Data Cycle: December 2023 - June 2024

II. Value Generated by the Industry: With the Empowerment of AI Smartphones, Information Distribution and Interactive Actions May Undergo a Transformation

The transformation of smartphones under the empowerment of generative AI extends far beyond just enhancing interaction experience. Currently, the new value that generative AI brings to smartphones is already beginning to emerge. Firstly, in terms of interaction experience, the previous generation of smartphone interaction primarily relied on touch-based clicks, requiring users to perform each step manually. However, with the integration of technologies such as generative AI Agent, automated interaction becomes possible. Interaction actions and paths can be restructured, potentially allowing a single device to offer a multifaceted experience interaction model. On the other hand, we believe that AI smartphones offer more than just an interaction revolution - they significantly enhance overall user efficiency. We can analyze the efficiency boundaries of different generations of smartphones from two dimensions: information distribution and operational efficiency.

    --  Feature Phone Era: Information distribution primarily involved manual
        filtering, leading to a uniform experience for users, with interactions
        mainly through self-operation & retrieval, which was a huge amount of
        work. Its typical applications included portal websites
    --  Smartphone Era: Information distribution shifted to discrimination-based
        and recommendation algorithms, achieving a personalized experience but
        still requiring user judgment for long-tail items, such as in food
        delivery and short video applications.
    --  AI Phone Era: Information distribution can directly reach users through
        generative algorithms, reducing user input to voice commands and AI
        operations, such as intelligent ticket booking and intelligent meeting
        scheduling.


              AI smartphones can activate innovative human-computer interaction methods system-wide, achieving a new round of
                       upgrades from user interaction to multifaceted experience.

                   
              (Evolution of PC and Smartphone Interaction Experience)



              Interaction Era                                  Time           
              Carrier           
              Experience



              Command Line                                     1960s -1980s   
              DOS OS                       Early DOS OS was designed for professional
    Interaction                                                                                            developers, with operations requiring
                                                                                                             complex
    Experience                                                                                            command-line inputs



              GUI Interaction                                  1980s -2010s              Win OS/Mac OS,               Interaction evolved to task-oriented
                                                                                           etc.                         operations using
     Experience                                                                                            keyboard and mouse, facilitating a new
                                                                                                             interaction
    (Keyboard & Mouse)                                                                                    method



              Touch-based                                      2010s -2022               iOS/Android OS,              Interaction primarily relied on GUI,
                                                                                           etc.                         transitioning
    Interaction                                                                                           from keyboard and mouse to touch-based
    Experience (Screen)                                                                                   experiences, with some voice interactions



              Multifaceted                                     2023 -Future   
              AI OS                        Generative AI enables multifaceted
                                                                                                                        experience
    Experience                                                                                            combining touch, voice, gestures, etc.

                                                                                                                     Understanding the future implications for
                                                                                                                        niche user
                                                                                                           groups (such as the elderly or mobile
                                                                                                             office workers)
                                                                                                          will be significant


              Data Source: Public data, Gartner, MoonFox Research Institute
    Note: The concept of Multifaceted Experience refers to interactions across digital touchpoints (e.g., web, mobile apps, chatbots,
    AR/VR, wearables) using various interaction methods (e.g., touch, voice, visual, gestures) as proposed by Gartner


              Examining the evolution of smartphone usage efficiency from the perspectives of information distribution and user actions,
    smartsmartphones in the AI era will enhance user efficiency through the overall improvement of algorithm generation and
                                        machine actions



              Era                                      User Action              Information
                                                                                  Distribution    
              Typical Cases
                                                         Efficiency   Efficiency


               Feature Phone                            User-driven              Manual content              Portal websites, IM applications, etc.
    Era                                                     actions   recommendations


               Mobile Internet                          AI-assisted              Discriminative
                                                                                  algorithm                  Facial recognition, voice operations, big data
    Phone                                                   actions   recommendations             recommendations, etc.
    Era


               AI phone Era                               AI-driven              Generative AI               Intelligent searching, intelligent meeting
                                                                                  algorithm                   scheduling,
                                                            actions   generation                  intelligent ticket booking, etc.


     Data Source: Independently prepared by MoonFox Research Institute

We believe that in the era of generative AI algorithms, the efficiency of AI smartphones is expected to significantly improve. AI applications will become more widespread and versatile, with information distribution more closely aligned with personalized user needs and specific scenarios. Furthermore, user actions are likely to be further liberated, enabling AI to autonomously handle more complex, multi-step tasks.

III. User Perception: AI Smartphones Infuse the Market with Positive Emotions, Users Show Strong Excitement and Willingness to Try

AI smartphones have introduced novelty to the market with flagship models, generating positive emotions among users. We believe that whether a product or technology ultimately translates into changes in user purchasing behavior, whether in the realm of efficiency tools or lifestyle & entertainment products, it will ultimately be reflected in the level of feedback on user experience and emotions. Thus, the ability to evoke sustained curiosity, excitement, and exploratory emotions is a crucial directive indicator.

Our analysis of social media data regarding user reviews of AI phone shows that current market sentiment on AI phone topics is predominantly positive, with nearly 90% of the feedback being favorable. A significant portion of users have expressed their appreciation for AI phone and the interesting experiences discovered during use. This positive user sentiment is expected to further spread in the future, leading to effective secondary recommendation and promotion.


                                          
              AI phone User Social Media Comment Sentiment Data Analysis


                                                          
              User Comment Sentiment Type                
           Percentage of User Comment


                                                              
              Positive Sentiment                                                      89.5 %


                                                              
              Negative Sentiment                                                      10.5 %


                                                  
              AI phone User Social Media Comment Excerpts


                                                                    
              Comment                                 
              Source



              "Breeno is really smart, and the cheesy pick-up lines are indeed cheesy                            From the Xiaohongshu user "???**?"("A
    , hahaha. See the details in the picture, it's so funny!"                                                        Good ** You")'s comment on July 18



              "The AI on my new phone is really the Next Level. I took photos when                                           From the Xiaohongshu user
                                                                                                                                          "??**?"("Only
    eating in a restaurant near Nanjing Eye Footbridge, and even though it                                         Have ** Heart")'s comment on July 28
    was just a regular photo, I tried out the AI feature that was the main
    highlight, and it truly amazed me."



              "The OS version of the OPPO Find X6 Pro I bought for my mom was                                                From the Xiaohongshu user
                                                                                                                                        "?*?"("Mirror *
    updated. And its AIGC is so impressive! She is very satisfied with it.                                             Sound")'s comment on February 12
    Hope the Master Mode could be updated via OTA very soon."


              Data Source: MoonFox Big Data Monitor; Data Cycle: August 2024

The development of AI smartphones is in its early stages, with future prospects for phone replacement and content ecosystems likely to flourish. Smartphone manufacturers have established a foundation for AI phone applications, with increasing user penetration rates. This infusion of novelty into user experiences is driving market users towards upgrading devices. From the perspectives of information distribution and user actions, AI smartphones are expected to significantly enhance overall efficiency in the next generation, with broader and more practical AI applications. The development of AI smartphones is worth long-term attention.

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SOURCE Aurora Mobile Ltd