The full screen fell into the homogenous competition quagmire chips will be the biggest threshold for AI mobile phones

Mobile phone "AI" created by Glory, Huawei, Apple, Samsung, etc., will bring a new round of innovation from the perspective of software experience.

With the “full screen” becoming the standard for the new aircraft release in the last three months, the biggest hotspots in the smartphone industry in the second half of 2017 have gradually cooled down. After glory in October with the Chang Play 7X, which was sold for 1,299 yuan, after the introduction of the full screen into the thousand Yuan war, it is difficult for the "Comprehensive Screen" to continue to surpass and gradually fall from the altar of technological innovation into the quagmire of competition.

At the same time, the continued weakness in the domestic mobile phone market has forced mobile phone manufacturers to continue to think. Who will become the next outlet to drive replacement? AI is probably the best candidate.

Full screen fell into the quagmire of homogenous competition

Since the new wave in September, more than 10 full-screen mobile phones have been released, including 899 yuan for low-end machines, 1,500 yuan for new thousand-yuan machines, and 3,000 yuan for mid-range machines and 4000. More than yuan high-end machine. In just over two months, "the full screen has fallen from the altar of technological innovation into the quagmire of homogenous competition."

The reason is not difficult to understand, as the full screen industry chain matures, its technical threshold and cost are gradually reduced, and mobile phone manufacturers have followed up with full-screen products.

Previously, the biggest difficulty in the overall screen came from the OLED screen supply. However, with the BOE announced that its first full-screen production line to achieve mass production, and to a number of domestic mobile phone manufacturers to achieve volume supply, the OLED screen shortage will be eased. "The screen and cutting process are all problems in the supply chain. For mobile phone manufacturers, the most difficult part of making a full-screen mobile phone lies in device miniaturization and integration." Sun Yanxi, dean of the first mobile phone industry research institute, said that How do you plug traditional components such as cameras, earpieces, and sensors into the space left by the screen?

Therefore, when the problems in the supply chain are gradually resolved, various comprehensive screen solutions have also been launched one after another, and the full screen will enter the outbreak phase. In mid-October, Glory even ignited a full screen thousand Yuan war with Changwan 7X, which was sold for 1299 yuan.

AI mobile phone will be the next outlet

In fact, from the double-camera war in the first half of the year to the full-screen competition in the second half of the year, it is undoubtedly the new selling point launched to drive the exchange market. But neither the dual camera nor the full screen seems to be able to stop the consumer from changing the cycle. “As of the third quarter of 2017, the replacement cycle of Chinese mobile phone users has reached 22.1 months.” The “Q3 China Bestselling Mobile Phone Market Analysis Report 2017” released by the First Mobile Phone Academy indicated that China’s intelligence in the fourth quarter of 2017 is expected to The mobile phone market will continue to show negative growth.

With the decline in overall screen popularity and the continuing downturn in the market, handset makers are looking for the next big thing. Among them, the mobile phone "AI" created by Glory, Huawei, Apple, Samsung, etc., will bring a new round of innovation from the perspective of software experience.

At the 2017 Developer Conference, Apple launched the Smart Speaker Home?Pod and vigorously promoted its artificial intelligence application. Until September of this year, the release of the iPhoneX with the artificial intelligence chip A?11 processor means that Apple's layout in the AI ​​field is floating. Out of the water.

In fact, as early as the end of 2016, Glory presented the concept of "smart phone" (smartphone + AI) and released the Magic mobile phone, which is regarded as a comprehensive test in the field of artificial smart phones. The Kirin 970, an artificial intelligence chip released in early September, marks Huawei's formal entry into the field of mobile artificial intelligence. Subsequently, the Mate?10 series mobile phone equipped with an AI chip was officially unveiled.

AI has undoubtedly become the next outlet for smart phones. It is understood that Samsung's Bixby artificial intelligence assistant is also on the verge of the Chinese version. At the same time, according to sources close to glory, the glory V10 to be released at the end of the month will also be equipped with artificial intelligence technology, and it is even possible that the built-in AI chip upgrade algorithm will be further optimized on the experience of the Magic mobile phone to achieve dual-use hardware and software. AI. "Artificial intelligence is the direction in which the glory of the future of mobile phones persists." Zhao Ming, president of glory, has revealed that the technology in Magic's smart phones will land in glory on other series of mobile phones.

The chip will be the biggest threshold for AI mobile phones

"Artificial intelligence is leading the next era, and AI mobile phones will be the best carrier for artificial intelligence in common applications. It will enable AI to effectively help users in the basic applications of voice, semantics, and image recognition," said glory insiders. "But the application of artificial smart phones can't be just a marketing stunt. For manufacturers, it's really necessary to have a good experience at the base layer (for computing power), technology layer (algorithm), and application layer (AI application) in order to keep up with the artificial Smart age."

The technology that can systematically solve these problems, at present, the chip is one of the most effective ways. This also means that the AI ​​chip will become a watershed to distinguish authentic AI phones.

In fact, this is why Huawei, Glory, Apple, and Samsung have all increased investment in AI chip R&D. At present, Apple's self-developed artificial intelligence bionic chip -- A11? Bionic has been put into use on the iPhone? X, to enhance the AR function and face recognition technology. Huawei's latest Kirin 970 chip also innovatively designed the HiAI mobile computing architecture, and added a neural network unit (NPU) to the traditional configuration and parameters. It can use deep learning to pool the hardware of mobile phones and allow mobile phones to handle certain specific scenarios. The speed of the task in the upgrade can be used for optimization of global applications. The chip has been applied on Huawei Mate?10 series mobile phones, and the upcoming glory V10 is also very likely to use the chip. In addition, the industry is rumored that Samsung has begun to develop dedicated artificial intelligence chips, and plans to use artificial intelligence chips in its own smart phones in the next three years.

It can be seen that an AI mobile phone war around the AI ​​chip has been in full swing. For Huawei Glory, Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers, the technology and R&D strength they have accumulated over the years will eventually be higher in the end products, but for manufacturers that do not have chip R&D strength and can only follow the pace of upstream suppliers. The crisis will also approach.