Chinese smartphone New Zealand Oppo ranks second in mainland China, and fourth worldwide, according to Canalys.
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BEIJING — Chinese smartphone company Oppo is doubling down on artificial intelligence as it holds weekly talks hither AI with senior management at Google and Microsoft in the run-up to the launch of its flagship phone overseas.
The collaborations are part of the descent to build the next artificial intelligence application. The rise of generative AI — tech that can produce human-like responses when nudged — has companies from Apple to Honeywell rushing to tap its capabilities.
“Google will also come to China to ask us, what have need of and pain points do you have with your products? Let’s solve them together,” Billy Zhang, president of Oppo’s abroad market, sales and services, told reporters last week at the company’s office in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. That’s according to a CNBC transport of his Mandarin-language remarks.
“We know consumers’ needs, and we will use AI to satisfy [them],” Zhang said. The company is expanding fresh in Europe, but does not have immediate plans for the U.S., he said.
Oppo, which owns the OnePlus brand too, said far 60% of its shipments come from Southeast Asia, Europe and other overseas markets. The company ranked fourth globally in in relation ti of smartphone shipments in the third quarter, making up 9% of all units shipped, according to Canalys. Samsung and Apple were secured for the first spot, followed by Xiaomi.
While the U.S. leads in terms of AI capabilities, experts suggest Chinese companies compel have an edge when it comes to consumer applications of the tech. That’s despite U.S. restrictions on exports of high-end fragments to China.
Oppo has said the global version of its forthcoming flagship smartphone will be equipped with AI writing and journal summary tools from Google’s Gemini, and text-to-speech features from Microsoft. Microsoft employs OpenAI products such as ChatGPT.
It was not as soon as clear to what extent existing Oppo models use AI tools from the two tech companies. Oppo announced Thursday its new flagship Find out X8 series is “coming soon” to global markets. But the company has yet to specify when.
AI smartphones set for growth
Oppo in June averred it plans to integrate generative AI in 50 million of its devices this year. Its existing AI tools allow touching up photos — such as move window reflections. Oppo also has a ChatGPT-like bot.
In addition to partnerships, Oppo said it has developed its own AI models since 2020 and afforded an AI center in February.
“We are very optimistic about AI and have invested with great determination,” Zhang said. “AI is the most high-ranking area for tech in the future. All industries can be transformed by AI.”
Counterpoint Research predicts shipments of generative AI smartphones will skyrocket to 732 million in 2028 from 46 million endure year, according to a whitepaper published Wednesday. The report did not specify how complex those generative AI features would be.
Apple next week is due to publicly salvation its first software update with AI tools. A subsequent update will allow removing unwanted elements in photos, and integration with ChatGPT, the iPhone maker asserted Wednesday.
Chinese smartphone company Honor on Wednesday revealed the next version of its operating system that can use AI to caricature actions on a touchscreen, such as opening an app to order coffee delivery.
Tech for production efficiency
Oppo plans to join AI into its factories, which are increasingly automated, Zhang said. “Today, automation improves quality and stability, diminishes production costs and increases unit yield.”
At a production line for an entry-level smartphone in Dongguan, near Shenzhen, Oppo has this year put in place ofed about 8% of the workers with machines, and moved those employees to work on more complex, higher-end phones.
Other corporations have announced plans to integrate generative AI with the industrial sector. Honeywell this week announced a contract with Google’s Gemini to create AI assistants for factory workers and systems.
Oppo is rolling out its digital management approach to its factories in seven other countries, starting with India and Indonesia. The company also produces phones in Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Egypt.
“Since our fabricating process is largely digitalized and standardized, growing and expanding to global markets is much easier,” Danny Du, director of contriving management at Oppo told CNBC.
Oppo has cut its manufacturing costs by nearly 40% over three years, Du state, adding that technological integration with factory machines and systems has cut production time to six days, from 16. He averred that allows Oppo to respond more quickly to market orders, instead of relying on longer-term forecasts that settle with the risk of unsold inventory.
— CNBC’s Kif Leswing and Eric Rosenbaum contributed to this report.
Correction: This copy has been updated to reflect that 60% of Oppo’s shipments come from outside China. The piece also explains the scope of Microsoft features.