OpenAI is reportedly making a phone, teaming up with MediaTek and Qualcomm! Is Apple in trouble?
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According to the latest industry survey by renowned Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, OpenAI is planning to develop its own smartphone, aiming to redefine the interactive logic of mobile devices with AI agents at the core, and has already begun substantial actions at the hardware level.
Kuo revealed that OpenAI is currently working with MediaTek and Qualcomm to develop mobile processors, with Luxshare Precision as the exclusive partner for system co-design and manufacturing. The overall project is expected to enter mass production by 2028. Final confirmation of specifications and suppliers is expected between the end of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027.
Kuo stated that MediaTek and Qualcomm are likely to benefit in the long term from the resulting demand for device upgrades, while Luxshare Precision could leverage its early involvement to become a leading beneficiary in the next generation of smartphones, holding significant strategic importance.
Kuo has also released a conceptual design diagram of the AI agent phone interface to demonstrate the fundamental difference in interaction logic between this new type of phone and existing products—users no longer open a bunch of apps, but directly perform tasks and meet needs through the phone.
This may not be good news for Apple. Analysts pointed out that Apple's most proud moat—its integrated hardware-software ecosystem—is currently facing direct challenges and threats from new AI forces.
Why OpenAI Wants to Make a Phone
Kuo Ming-Chi explains OpenAI's strategy for entering hardware terminals from three perspectives.
First, only by having complete control over the operating system and hardware can comprehensive AI agent services be provided; platform independence is the premise for capability boundaries. Second, the phone is currently the only device that can continually sense all of a user's present state, which is the most crucial input information for real-time AI agent inference services. Third, for the foreseeable future, the phone will remain the largest consumer terminal globally by volume.
Kuo believes OpenAI's core advantage lies in its consumer brand accumulation, years of user data, and leading AI models. Since the mobile hardware supply chain is highly mature, OpenAI can directly partner with supply chain vendors for development without having to build a manufacturing system from scratch. In terms of business model, OpenAI may bundle subscription with hardware sales and attract developers around the AI agent ecosystem.
Processor Design: High Integration of Cloud and Device
On the processor architecture level, Kuo points out that managing power consumption, memory layer scheduling, and local operation of basic small models—brought by continual contextual understanding of the user—will be the core challenges in chip design; more complex or intensive tasks will be handled by cloud-based AI, forming a collaborative inference architecture between device and cloud.
Kuo uses the TPU Zebrafish project, a collaboration between MediaTek and Google, as a reference, noting that the revenue from a single AI chip is approximately equivalent to that from 30 to 40 AI agent phone processors. He further estimates that if aiming at the 300–400 million units/year high-end market globally in the initial phase, the resulting upgrade wave will be a strong performance driver for MediaTek and Qualcomm.
Luxshare Precision's role in this supply chain landscape is especially noteworthy. Kuo clearly pointed out that no matter how hard Luxshare works, it's difficult to surpass Foxconn in complete assembly within Apple’s supply chain. Therefore, securing the exclusive role in co-design and manufacturing for OpenAI's phone is extraordinarily strategic for Luxshare. Kuo believes Luxshare will leverage this early positioning to establish itself as a leading beneficiary in the next generation of phones outside Apple’s supply chain, achieving significant growth.
Boosted by the positive news, Luxshare Precision hit the daily limit up on Monday, with a transaction volume of 17.011 billion yuan.
Market Analysts: Apple's Moat Facing Direct Impact
Market analysts and seasoned investors have been interpreting the news. Well-known technology investment blogger @The_AI_Investor said that OpenAI's crossover into hardware will help realize a closed-loop for its AI capabilities. Apple's most proud moat—integrated hardware-software ecosystem—is facing direct challenges and threats from new AI forces.
Analyst Jukan believes that if OpenAI successfully launches a new phone centered on an AI agent, it could pose a potential risk for Apple.
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