Industry Forecast for AI Technology Applications: Nearly 200 Million Smartphones Expected to Feature AI in 2024
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The global smartphone market remains sluggish, with shipments declining by 3.2% in 2023 to 1.17 billion units, marking a two-year consecutive drop. At the 2024 Mobile World Congress, smartphone manufacturers showcased their latest technologies, such as Motorola's bendable phone that can be worn like a watch, Deutsche Telekom's app-free concept phone, and Samsung's new AI-powered real-time call translation feature. Industry analysts predict that shipments of AI-enabled smartphones will reach 170 million units in 2024, accounting for nearly 15% of total smartphone shipments.
Artificial intelligence application technology refers to the applied technologies of AI and related supporting technologies. In China, the development of AI application technologies faces challenges such as weak foundational research and a shortage of high-level innovative talent, which remain critical gaps to address. Currently, large enterprises dominate AI R&D investments, while the limited talent pool struggles to meet industry demands, resulting in an ongoing shortage of AI professionals. Compared to early-stage AI, next-generation AI is evolving under new information environments, massive data foundations, and continuously advancing strategic goals. Leveraging cloud computing and big data as foundational platforms, along with machine learning, pattern recognition, and human-computer interaction as core technologies, modern AI focuses on new computing architectures, general artificial intelligence, and open-source ecosystems. This framework continues to expand and refine, steadily approaching technological singularity while profoundly transforming human productivity and lifestyles.
Analysis of Current Development in AI Technology Application Industry
As the core driver of a new wave of industrial transformation, artificial intelligence has become a focal point of international competition and a new engine for economic growth. Currently, AI is accelerating its deep integration with the real economy, facilitating industrial transformation and upgrading. After years of sustained accumulation, China has made significant progress in the AI field, with increasingly mature theories and technologies, expanding application scopes, and continuously evolving business models. In recent years, China has introduced several policies on new-generation artificial intelligence, forming a development pattern where leading regions drive growth while others flourish. China's AI sector is now entering a phase of large-scale implementation. The eastern region of China shows stronger AI development, with three major industrial clusters centered around Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong. Currently, China's new-generation AI open innovation platforms are supported by companies such as Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, iFlytek, and SenseTime, focusing on autonomous driving, urban brain systems, medical imaging, intelligent speech, and computer vision—five national-level open innovation platforms.
Over the past few years, due to strategic prioritization and the efforts of domestic enterprises, China has become a globally recognized leader in AI. However, it is crucial to recognize that global competition in AI is intensifying, with dynamics constantly evolving, necessitating a sense of urgency.
From finance, healthcare, and education to smart manufacturing and smart cities, AI technology is deeply penetrating various industries, providing intelligent solutions to enterprises and driving industrial upgrades. Data shows that the global AI solutions market was valued at RMB 1.1 trillion in 2022 and is projected to reach RMB 2.8 trillion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.2% from 2022 to 2027. With continuous technological advancements and deeper applications, China's AI solutions market is also growing steadily, reaching RMB 232.9 billion in 2022.
China's AI solutions market can be segmented into interactive AI solutions, computer vision AI solutions, and general AI technology solutions. In 2022, interactive AI solutions accounted for 24.9% of the market share, while computer vision AI solutions held 52.6%.
Challenges Facing the AI Technology Application Industry The artificial intelligence industry currently faces various challenges: cutting-edge research and industrial practice are not yet closely connected; there is a huge talent gap; data silos and fragmentation issues are evident; reusable and standardized technical frameworks, platforms, tools, and services are not yet mature; some areas suffer from premature development and blind investment; and entrepreneurship is relatively difficult, with early-stage teams needing more support. Among these, the talent shortage is particularly severe. In the U.S., over half of data scientists have more than 10 years of experience, while in China, 40% of researchers have less than five years of experience. China currently has fewer than 30 university research labs dedicated to AI.
As AI technology continues to mature, more robots or intelligent programs will act as human assistants, helping people complete repetitive or dangerous tasks. However, with the advancement and widespread application of AI, people may face increasing challenges in security, privacy, and ethics. Currently, AI applications across industries are gradually entering a phase of deep professional integration, facing challenges in technical specialization, ecological development, and regulatory standardization.
Forecast for the Development Prospects of the AI Technology Application Industry
By 2028, the global AI market size is expected to exceed $521.3 billion. Reports show that in 2020, China's AI industry scale reached 303.1 billion yuan, a 15% year-on-year increase, slightly higher than the global growth rate. As of now, China's core AI industry scale exceeds 400 billion yuan, with nearly 4,000 enterprises. The Chinese AI industry is expanding rapidly, with significant growth potential, and is expected to become the world's largest AI market. In the post-pandemic era, the AI industry is poised for rapid growth during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Artificial Intelligence (AI) serves as a crucial infrastructure in the digital economy under the new landscape, possessing the capability to integrate with various industries. An increasing number of sectors and fields are undergoing intelligent upgrades at different levels. The new era of AI will be a pan-intelligent era, extending far beyond the traditional understanding of the internet and technology industries, bringing leaps in productivity and connectivity across society. With the support of industrial policies and gradually improving market legislation, China's AI market is expected to grow rapidly, surpassing 300 billion yuan by 2025. As the world's largest AI application market, China is witnessing rapid AI technology adoption, which has already been widely applied across multiple industries and scenarios. The rapid development of AI in China is stimulating economic growth across various sectors, with immense potential in the application market.