The latest report from well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shows that the mass production time of OpenAI’s first AI smartphone has been significantly advanced from the original scheduled 2028 to the first half of 2027. This AI giant is entering the smartphone track with a sprint attitude and directly launching a head-on challenge to the iPhone.
The mass production schedule is advanced, driven by both IPO narrative and competitive pressure
Ming-Chi Kuo pointed out in an industry survey update released on May 5 that OpenAI seems to be accelerating the development of the first AI smartphone phone, with the goal of achieving mass production as soon as the first half of 2027 . This time point is much earlier than the outside world expected - at the end of April, Guo Mingchi also predicted that the project would be mass-produced in 2028. It was updated in less than two weeks, showing that OpenAI’s internal emphasis on this hardware project is rising sharply .
There are multiple driving factors behind the acceleration of mass production of. Ming-Chi Kuo’s analysis believes that its potential driving factors include supporting the possible IPO narrative at the end of the year and the increasingly fierce competition in the field of AI smartphones . It is not difficult to see that the emergence of a disruptive AI hardware product will not only add a major footnote to OpenAI's launch story, but also enable it to seize the opportunity in the emerging track of AI mobile phones.
Hardware blueprint: Exclusively supplied by MediaTek, OEM by TSMC N2P process
In terms of core processors, Ming-Chi Kuo’s research and judgment has taken a key turn. Earlier, he believed that OpenAI was cooperating with Qualcomm and MediaTek to develop mobile phone processors, but the latest research shows that MediaTek has a high probability of defeating Qualcomm and becoming the exclusive SoC supplier for this phone . This will be MediaTek’s first entry into the OpenAI hardware supply chain, which is of great strategic significance.
According to the plan, the device will use a deeply customized version of the chip based on Dimensity 9600, and will be manufactured by TSMC in the second half of 2026 using the most advanced N2P process node . This chip is specially designed for AI computing needs, emphasizing both high performance and low power consumption .
In terms of complete machine manufacturing, Luxshare Precision is expected to continue to serve as the exclusive system co-designer and manufacturer, providing stable production capacity guarantee for OpenAI’s hardware implementation .
Core specifications: dual NPU heterogeneous computing power scheduling, ISP enhanced visual perception
Ming-Chi Kuo has listed a rather radical list of hardware specifications, many of which point to the cutting-edge ceiling of current smartphones.
Image signal processor (ISP) is listed as the core selling pointTAGPH 13, equipped with an enhanced HDR pipeline, aims to improve visual perception in real scenes, allowing AI agents to more accurately understand environmental information . This means that the camera no longer only serves the function of taking pictures, but has become an important input channel for AI Agent to perceive the real world.
The computing power architecture adopts dual NPU heterogeneous design ——Simple The lightweight tasks are efficiently processed locally by the low-power NPU, while the complex reasoning tasks are completed collaboratively by the cloud AI system to achieve a balance between efficiency and computing power .
Memory and storage are all in one step , equipped with LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage combination is designed to fundamentally alleviate the memory bottleneck and data throughput pressure faced during continuous AI operations .
In terms of security, the machine is expected to support pKVM hard isolation safe and inline hash verification functions to ensure user data privacy and interaction security during the operation of AI agents from the hardware level .
Shipment expectation: 30 million units in two years, challenging the high-end market structure
If the research and development progress proceeds smoothly, Guo Mingchi predicts that the total shipment volume of this mobile phone in the two years from 2027 to 2028 is expected to reach nearly 30 million units . For a new entrant in the hardware market, this goal seems extremely ambitious - the global high-end smartphone market ships approximately 300-400 million units per year. If OpenAI achieves this volume, it means directly entering the core market with the most fierce competition with a new brand .
An interactive revolution starting from the underlying logic
As of now, OpenAI officials have not confirmed the above rumors. But judging from the disclosed information, the design concept of this AI smartphone goes far beyond the scope of traditional smartphones. Its core is not to superimpose AI functions on top of the existing operating system, but to fundamentally replace traditional application-based interactions with AI Agent: users no longer need to open different apps one by one, but directly complete tasks in an intent-driven manner through AI Agent .
It is worth noting that OpenAI is working in depth with former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive (Jony Ive) and his team . In May 2025, OpenAI acquired Ive's hardware startup io for US$6.5 billion, becoming the largest acquisition in the company's history . Ive himself has publicly stated on many occasions that he hopes to use the next wave of hardware design to make up for the negative social impact caused by the popularity of smartphones he promoted . This design master who single-handedly created the glory of the iPhone will now redefine the way humans interact with smart devices in the AI era.