Chinese smartphone company Oppo ranks second in mainland China and fourth globally, according to Canalys.
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BEIJING – Chinese smartphone company Oppo is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence, holding weekly AI discussions with senior executives from Google and Microsoft in preparation for the overseas launch of its flagship phone.
This collaboration is part of a competition to find the next artificial intelligence application. The rise of generative AI—technologies that can generate human-like responses to prompts—has companies from Apple to Honeywell rushing to take advantage of its capabilities.
Billy Zhang, Oppo’s president of overseas markets, sales and services, told reporters at the company’s office last week, “Google also visited China to understand what needs and problems there are for your products. I plan to ask them. Let’s solve it together.” It is located in Shenzhen, a city in southern China. According to a CNBC translation of his remarks in Mandarin:
“We understand consumer needs and will leverage AI to meet them.” [them]The company is expanding further in Europe, but has no immediate plans for the United States, Zhang said.
Oppo, which also owns the OnePlus brand, said it derives about 60% of its revenue from Southeast Asia, Europe and other overseas markets. According to Canalys, the company ranked fourth globally in smartphone shipments in the third quarter, accounting for 9% of total shipments. Samsung and Apple tied for first place, followed by Xiaomi.
While the United States leads in terms of AI capabilities, experts suggest Chinese companies will have an advantage when it comes to consumer applications of the technology. This is despite the US restricting exports of high-end chips to China.
Oppo has announced that its next flagship smartphone will be equipped with Google’s Gemini’s AI writing and record summarization tool and Microsoft’s content generation feature. Microsoft has adopted OpenAI products such as ChatGPT.
It’s not immediately clear how much existing Oppo models use the two tech companies’ AI tools. Oppo has yet to announce when its flagship phone will go on sale worldwide.
AI smartphone aims for growth
In June, Oppo announced plans to integrate generative AI into 50 million of its devices this year. Existing AI tools can be used to modify photos, such as removing window reflections. Oppo also has bots like ChatGPT.
In addition to the partnership, Oppo said it has been developing its own AI models since 2020 and opened an AI center in February.
“We are very optimistic about AI and have invested with great determination,” Zhang said. “AI is the most important area for future technology. Every industry can be transformed by AI.”
Counterpoint Research predicts that generative AI smartphone shipments will jump from 46 million units last year to 732 million units by 2028, according to a white paper released Wednesday. The report did not specify how complex these generative AI capabilities would be.
Apple plans to roll out its first software update featuring AI tools to the public next week. Subsequent updates will allow for the removal of unnecessary elements in photos and integration with ChatGPT, the iPhone maker announced Wednesday.
Chinese smartphone company Honor on Wednesday announced the next version of its operating system that uses AI to mimic touchscreen actions, such as opening apps and ordering coffee delivery.
Technology to increase production efficiency
Oppo plans to integrate AI into its increasingly automated factories, Zhang said. “Today, automation has improved quality and stability, reduced production costs, and increased yields.”
At its entry-level smartphone production line in Dongguan, near Shenzhen, Oppo replaced about 8% of its employees with machines this year and moved those employees to work on more complex high-end smartphones.
Other companies have also announced plans to integrate generative AI into industrial sectors. Honeywell this week announced a deal with Google’s Gemini, which will develop an AI assistant for factory workers and systems.
Oppo is rolling out the digital management system to its factories in seven other countries, starting with India and Indonesia. The company also produces mobile phones in Türkiye, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Egypt.
“Our manufacturing process is largely digital and standardized, making it much easier to grow and expand into global markets,” Danny Do, Oppo’s director of manufacturing management, told CNBC. .
Du said Oppo has reduced manufacturing costs by nearly 40% over three years, adding that technology integration with factory machinery and systems has reduced production time from 16 days to six days. Oppo said this allows it to respond more quickly to market orders. Rather than relying on long-term forecasts with the risk of unsold inventory.
—CNBC’s Kif Leswing and Eric Rosenbaum contributed to this report.
