Will AI Kill the Smartphone? OpenAI, Meta and Amazon Gas a New Gadget Risk

LONDON, Jan 26, 2026, 11:58 GMT

• The Economist reported that the Apple-Android smartphone duopoly is now beneath new pressure from AI-first gadgets supported by OpenAI, Meta, and Amazon.
• Yang Wang from Counterpoint predicts a roughly 6% drop in international smartphone shipments this 12 months, pointing to increased part costs and intensified competitors for chip manufacturing.
• Analysts and writers word that whereas cellphone AI chips pack a punch, they’re nonetheless robust for outdoor builders to entry, which retains widespread “on-device” AI options restricted.

OpenAI, Meta, and Amazon are eyeing the smartphone’s territory as generative AI forces Big Tech to rethink the go-to machine for looking, procuring, and chatting. According to The Economist, the Apple-Android stronghold faces challenges from recent {hardware} experiments, starting from sensible glasses to devices that emit display mild. Economist

The timing is essential since smartphones have served as the first gateway to the web for twenty years. If AI assistants take over as the primary interface, the corporate proudly owning the machine—and the info it channels—might steer income streams, from subscriptions to promoting.

Phone makers are gearing up for a tricky 12 months forward. Yang Wang from Counterpoint Research predicts a roughly 6% drop in international smartphone shipments this 12 months, with no bounce again anticipated in 2027, the report says.

The Economist highlighted a recent wave of contenders aiming to bypass the standard cellphone display. In a current chat with Laurene Powell Jobs, OpenAI’s Sam Altman steered his upcoming machine would provide a definite expertise, likening present smartphone use to “walking through Times Square.”

OpenAI introduced on Jan. 19 that its machine is predicted to launch within the second half of the 12 months, based on the report. Just two days after, information surfaced that Apple is growing a wearable pin designed to counter no matter Altman and ex-Apple designer Jony Ive are creating.

Meta is redirecting assets from virtual-reality headsets to speed up its AI-powered sensible glasses improvement, based on the report. Meanwhile, Amazon has launched Alexa+, an enhanced AI assistant, for Echo sensible audio system and goals to increase it to Echo sensible glasses and earbuds.

Component costs and chip availability are tightening the pinch. According to Wang, the worth of the 12 gigabytes of DRAM typical in smartphones has jumped by $70 within the final 15 months, pushed by elevated data-centre funding that’s limiting provide, the report famous.

Wang additionally highlighted a “foundry war” — a battle over manufacturing capability amongst chipmakers that produce semiconductors for third events. According to the report, smartphone giants like Apple and Samsung are shedding floor to AI chip designers similar to Nvidia, whose chips convey increased income to foundries.

Challengers have clear motives to push again. Developers can face Apple commissions as excessive as 30% on in-app purchases, the report famous, and OpenAI has to share a reduce of shopper subscriptions bought on iPhones and Android gadgets. Meta, too, has explored methods to minimize its dependence on the cellphone ecosystem since Apple’s 2021 replace permitting customers to choose out of cross-app and web site monitoring, the report added.

New kind components typically face robust challenges and physics gained’t bend. The report factors out that Google’s sensible glasses, launched in 2014, had been shelved only a 12 months later amid privateness considerations. Wearables proceed to battle warmth points and restricted battery life. Humane’s AI pin, which debuted in November 2023, did not catch on, and the corporate shut down final 12 months, the report added.

Even if sensible glasses catch on, they may not outright change telephones. Instead, they may rely closely on them. Qualcomm exec Alex Katouzian talked about that “edge” gadgets would possibly change into extra widespread however might require a companion “puck” or a cellphone close by to deal with the heavy processing, the report famous. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg additionally steered customers will seemingly “stare at them less,” not toss them apart utterly.

There’s a much less apparent situation brewing inside trendy smartphones: AI {hardware} that’s barely tapped. FindArticles factors out that cellphone makers have packed gadgets with NPUs—neural processing items constructed to deal with AI calculations on-device—however their real-world affect is restricted. Fragmented software program and inconsistent developer assist throughout manufacturers hold these chips from reaching their full potential. Findarticles

Android Authority raised an identical level, noting that cell AI nonetheless struggles with out a dependable, cross-vendor platform for builders—after years of fragmented toolkits and dropped interfaces. It highlighted Google’s LiteRT, launched in 2024 as a revamp of TensorFlow Lite, aiming to streamline how apps entry CPUs, GPUs, and supported NPUs throughout completely different gadgets. Androidauthority

Apple and Google aren’t simply watching from the sidelines. According to the report, Apple intends to combine Google’s Gemini AI fashions into an enhanced Siri rollout set for later this 12 months. At the identical time, Google is advancing Android XR for sensible glasses and headsets. These developments might decide if smartphones fade into the background or evolve into quiet companions supporting the subsequent technology of AI gadgets.