Chinese smartphone maker Realme aims to ship 100 million artificial intelligence (AI) handsets in the next three years, according to CEO Sky Li, as the firm gears up to “popularise AI” for young consumers as global competition intensifies.
Realme is breaking into the hotly contested field by sharpening its focus on imaging, efficiency and personalisation, which revolve around the core needs of young users, Li said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.
“2024 marks the starting point for AI smartphones, and AI is an opportunity for the smartphone industry to reshape the future and push for disruptive innovation,” Li said. “For us, AI is an opportunity we absolutely cannot miss, and it’s also a new battlefield full of challenges.”
Shenzhen-based Realme – a spin-off of Oppo, itself started by hardware giant BBK Electronics like rival Vivo – made a concerted push into AI with the recent launch of its flagship GT 6 device and the establishment of the Realme Next AI Lab.
Like virtually every other smartphone maker, Realme is making AI-related features a core part of its value proposition to consumers this year. Its features include enhancing low-resolution photos on the Realme 13 Pro, which is meant to compensate for not having top-tier hardware.
Li said Realme wants to make AI more accessible to young people by baking the latest technology into affordable devices. “As AI continues to mature in the smartphone industry, it will also need pioneers to popularise these advancements,” Li said. AI features will first roll out to its flagship GT models and then move to more affordable devices, he added.
Realme’s approach differs from that of its bigger domestic and global competitors. Deep-pocketed players such as Apple, Honor and Xiaomi have raced to develop their own large language models (LLMs) – the technology underpinning products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT – or integrate models from third-party developers into their devices.
Apple, which is slated to launch its iPhone 16 series on September 9, has partnered with Microsoft-backed OpenAI to integrate GPT-powered generative AI into Siri and other iPhone tools outside China, along with handling certain AI computing on-device using its own LLM.
Oppo said in June that its generative AI features will be accessible to about 50 million of its smartphone users by the end of this year, starting with its most premium devices and then expanding to more affordable smartphones. Rivals including Vivo, Huawei Technologies and its spin-off Honor have also unveiled plans for AI in their devices and mobile operating systems.
China is expected to lead the world in the adoption of AI-powered handsets, with the segment making up 12 per cent of total smartphone shipments on the mainland this year, ahead of the global average adoption rate of 9 per cent, according to an April report by consultancy Canalys.
With the help of AI, Realme aims to double sales in its home market by 2026, according to Li.
Realme, originally incubated by Oppo in 2018 and spun out in 2019, has become one of the fastest growing smartphone brands by focusing on young consumers in overseas markets. The company said in November that it has shipped more than 200 million handsets since it was established, mostly outside China, reaching the milestone faster than all but four other smartphone vendors.
Europe in particular remains a key market for Realme, where the brand ranked fourth by shipments in the first quarter and made up 4 per cent of the market, according to Counterpoint data.
“We aim to break into the top three in Europe in the next three years,” Li said.
