--- title: "OpenAI Reportedly Developing Smartphones in Partnership with MediaTek and Qualcomm: Is Apple in Danger?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284158805.md" description: "Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that OpenAI is planning to develop its own smartphones, intending to collaborate with MediaTek and Qualcomm on chip development and appoint Luxshare Precision as the exclusive assembler. Mass production is expected by 2028. The product aims to center on AI agents, utilizing an edge-cloud collaborative architecture for direct task execution and moving beyond traditional app interactions. OpenAI seeks to control both hardware and software to establish a new generation of AI operating system entry points. However, this may not be good news for Apple" datetime: "2026-04-27T05:59:44.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284158805.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284158805.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284158805.md) --- # OpenAI Reportedly Developing Smartphones in Partnership with MediaTek and Qualcomm: Is Apple in Danger? According to the latest industry survey by renowned Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, OpenAI is positioning itself to develop its own smartphones, aiming to redefine the interaction logic of mobile terminals with AI agents at the core, and has already taken substantive actions at the hardware level. As disclosed by Ming-Chi Kuo, **OpenAI is currently collaborating with MediaTek and Qualcomm to develop smartphone processors, with Luxshare Precision serving as the exclusive system co-designer and manufacturer. The overall project is expected to enter mass production in 2028.** Final confirmation of specifications and suppliers is anticipated between the end of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027. Ming-Chi Kuo stated that MediaTek and Qualcomm are expected to benefit from the resulting upgrade demand in the long term; Luxshare Precision, meanwhile, is poised to join the ranks of leading beneficiaries in the next phone generation by leveraging its early layout, marking significant strategic importance. Kuo also released a conceptual design image of an AI agent smartphone interface to illustrate the fundamental differences in interaction logic between this new form factor and existing products— **users will no longer open a multitude of applications but will instead execute tasks and meet needs directly through the phone.** **This, however, may not be good news for Apple.** Analysts suggest that Apple's most prized moat—the **integrated hardware-software ecosystem**—is facing direct challenges and threats from emerging AI forces. ## Why OpenAI Wants to Make Phones Ming-Chi Kuo explains OpenAI's strategic logic for entering the hardware terminal from three dimensions. **First,** only by fully controlling the operating system and hardware can comprehensive AI agent services be provided; platform independence is a prerequisite for capability boundaries. **Second,** the smartphone is currently the only device capable of continuously perceiving the user's full current state (state), which is the most critical input information for real-time AI agent inference services. **Third,** in the foreseeable future, smartphones will remain the largest consumer terminal by global volume. Kuo believes OpenAI's core advantages lie in its consumer brand accumulation, years of accumulated user data, and leading AI model capabilities. Since the smartphone hardware supply chain is already highly mature, OpenAI can collaborate directly with the supply chain to complete development without building a manufacturing system from scratch. In terms of business model, OpenAI may bundle subscription services with hardware sales and attract developer cooperation around the AI agent ecosystem. ## Processor Design: High Integration of Cloud and Edge At the processor architecture level, Kuo pointed out that **power management, memory hierarchical scheduling, and local execution of basic small models driven by continuous understanding of user context (context) will be the core challenges in chip design**; while more complex or high-intensity tasks will be handled by cloud-based AI, forming an edge-cloud collaborative inference architecture. Referencing MediaTek and Google's TPU Zebrafish project, Kuo noted that revenue from a single AI chip is roughly equivalent to that of 30 to 40 AI agent smartphone processors. He further estimated that if the initial focus targets the global high-end market of 300 to 400 million units annually, the resulting upgrade wave will become a powerful performance driver for both MediaTek and Qualcomm. **Luxshare Precision's role in this supply chain landscape is particularly noteworthy.** Kuo explicitly stated that regardless of efforts, Luxshare is unlikely to surpass Foxconn in the final assembly position within Apple's supply chain; therefore, securing the identity of exclusive system co-designer and manufacturer for OpenAI's phones holds extraordinary strategic value for Luxshare. Kuo believes Luxshare is expected to establish a leading beneficiary status in the next phone generation based on this early layout, achieving an important growth pivot outside of Apple's supply chain. Boosted by positive news, Luxshare Precision hit the daily limit up on Monday, with trading volume reaching 17.011 billion yuan. ## Market Analysis: Apple's Moat Faces Direct Impact Market analysts and seasoned investors have offered their interpretations. Renowned tech investment blogger @The\_AI\_Investor stated that OpenAI's entry into the hardware sector helps it achieve a closed-loop implementation of AI capabilities. Meanwhile, Apple's most prized moat—the **integrated hardware-software ecosystem**—is facing direct challenges and threats from emerging AI forces. Analyst Jukan believes that if OpenAI successfully launches a new form of smartphone centered on AI Agents, it could pose potential headwinds for Apple. ### Related Stocks - [QCOM.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QCOM.US.md) - [QCMU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/QCMU.US.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) - [MTK.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MTK.NA.md) - [AAPL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPL.US.md) - [002475.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/002475.CN.md) - [GOOGL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOGL.US.md) - [GOOG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOG.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [OPENAI REPORTEDLY TAPS APPLE SUPPLIERS FOR HARDWARE PUSH; MEDIATEK, QUALCOMM, LUXSHARE IN FOCUS – DIGITIMES](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284186668.md) - [OpenAI Eyes 'AI Agent' Smartphone With Qualcomm And MediaTek, Targets App-Free Experience By 2028: Report](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284202227.md) - [Analyst reports that OpenAI is partnering with Qualcomm for custom processors for an AI smartphone chip](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284195582.md) - [OpenAI is getting into smartphones; mass production expected in 2028.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284161091.md) - [This bank CEO let his AI clone handle an earnings call — now he's signing an OpenAI deal](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284210986.md)