AI smartphone shipments forecast to rise by 73.1% in 2025

The shipments of artificial intelligence-powered smartphones across the globe are expected to rise by 73.1 percent year-on-year in 2025, according to a report from global market consultancy IDC.

The triple-digit growth in 2024 will be followed by four consecutive years of double-digit growth as handset manufacturers look to incorporate generative AI features across their device offerings, the consultancy said.

By 2028, IDC forecasts that the global shipments of generative AI smartphone will come up to 912 million units, with the compound annual growth rate reaching 78.4 percent between 2024 and 2028.

It added the AI capabilities on smartphones will drive upgrades and represent a significant opportunity for both vendors and application developers alike.

Eyeing the immense growth potential in the AI handset market, South Korean technology company Samsung Electronics unveiled on Thursday its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S25 series, with enhanced AI capacities, as the company aims to widen its market share in the highly competitive premium smartphone market.

The handsets come with multimodal AI capabilities that can generate text, images, audio and videos based on given prompts, and improved natural language understanding, providing users with a natural and smooth interactive experience.

TM Roh, president and head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, said, "Galaxy S25 series opens the door to an AI-integrated OS that fundamentally shifts how we use technology and how we live our lives."