Already, the IDC’s five-year forecast for smartphone shipments worldwide by operating system showed that the smartphone market reached 1.21 billion units shipped in 2024, up 4.0 per cent from 2023.
According to IDC, sales of affordable Android smartphones are growing rapidly in emerging markets, while premium markets are embracing new AI features.
Director for Business Development, MediaTek Middle East and Africa, Rami Osman, noted that throughout Africa, “we have seen a surge in 5G investment, including spectrum auctions, pilots and commercial launches. With smartphone manufacturers leveraging the latest systems on chips (SoCs), we are also seeing more affordable 5G-ready smartphones hit the market. This has set the stage for accelerated 5G adoption across Africa in 2025. IDC forecasts 13.2 per cent growth in global sales of 5G-powered devices in 2025, following near 16 per cent growth in 2024.”
Osman noted that chipmakers like MediaTek are integrating next-generation generative AI features with their SoCs, saying that the Dimensity 9300 platform, for example, includes the MediaTek NPU 790 generative AI engine to allow faster, safer edge AI computing. This enables smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi to create a range of innovative generative AI experiences.
According to him, some examples of the features expected to become commonplace in smartphones include AI-generated subtitles for video calls, real-time translations of multiple languages and AI notetaking with summaries and proofreading.
IDC forecasts that AI-powered devices will be the fastest-growing segment in the smartphone category. Growth in 2025 is expected to hit 73 per cent. By 2028, worldwide gen AI smartphone shipments will reach 912 million units, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 78.4 per cent for 2023-2028.
