OpenAI Smartphone to Launch as Early as 2027, MediaTek or In-house Processor Orders

According to Counterpoint Research monitoring, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo updated his industry research, stating that OpenAI may be accelerating the development of the first AI agent smartphone (a phone where an AI agent performs tasks on behalf of the user), aiming to start mass production as early as the first half of 2027. Currently, it is more likely that MediaTek will exclusively obtain the processor orders, with the chip expected to be a custom version based on the Dimensity 9600, and mass production is anticipated to be carried out by TSMC using the N2P process in the second half of 2026.

This is more aggressive than Kuo's disclosure last week of "MediaTek and Qualcomm participating in processor development, Luxshare serving as the exclusive system-level design and manufacturing partner, mass production in 2028," with the new points focusing on an accelerated mass production timeline and a narrowed chipset supplier. He believes that the reasons for OpenAI's accelerated smartphone development may include a favorable end-of-year IPO narrative and the increasing competition in the AI agent phone market.

In terms of specifications, Kuo stated that the phone's ISP will enhance high dynamic range output to serve real-world visual perception; other key configurations include a dual NPU architecture (layered processing of AI calculations with different intensities), LPDDR6 + UFS 5.0 (alleviating memory and storage bottlenecks), pKVM + inline hashing (security isolation and data integrity mechanisms). If the development progresses smoothly, Kuo expects a total shipment of approximately 30 million units of the phone in 2027 and 2028.