Gartner Estimates 80% of Smartphones in 2022 Will Have ‘On-Device AI Capabilities’

Artificial intelligence features will become a “critical product differentiator” for smartphone vendors that will help them acquire new customers while retaining current users, said Gartner in a Thursday report. “As the smartphone market shifts from selling technology products to delivering compelling and personalized experiences, AI solutions running on the smartphone will become an essential part of vendor roadmaps over the next two years,” it said. Gartner estimates that by 2022, 80 percent of smartphones shipped will have “on-device AI capabilities,” up from 10 percent in 2017, it said: “On-device AI is currently limited to premium devices and provides better data protection and power management than full cloud-based AI, since data is processed and stored locally.” As a product differentiator in an increasingly commoditized market, “future AI capabilities will allow smartphones to learn, plan and solve problems for users,” said Gartner. “This isn't just about making the smartphone smarter, but augmenting people by reducing their cognitive load.”