Global shipments of GenAI-capable smartphone SoCs are projected to account for 35% of total smartphone SoC shipments in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research’s Global Smartphone AP-SoC Shipment & Forecast Tracker (Q2 2025). This marks a 74% year-on-year increase, driven by broader availability of GenAI features across premium and mid-range devices.
Market Share Leaders
Apple is expected to lead the GenAI segment with a 46% share, followed by Qualcomm (35%) and MediaTek (12%).
- Apple: Partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Apple also provides a 3-billion-parameter on-device language model and a larger cloud-based model via Private Cloud Compute on Apple Silicon servers.
- Qualcomm: Offers AI Orchestrator, enabling OEMs to focus on services without managing LLMs or hardware/software integration.
- MediaTek: Uses NeuroPilot to optimize AI across CPU, GPU, and NPU resources. Both Qualcomm and MediaTek are actively working with Chinese OEMs to ensure efficient deployment of GenAI models.
Premium SoCs: 88% to Support GenAI
Premium GenAI-capable SoC shipments are expected to grow 53% YoY, with 88% of all premium SoCs shipped in 2025 supporting GenAI. Key models driving adoption include:
- Apple A19 / A19 Pro
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- MediaTek Dimensity 9500
Shivani Parashar, Research Analyst, highlighted that the rise of GenAI in smartphones since 2024 has accelerated the demand for more powerful AI compute. She noted that peak AI performance in premium SoCs is projected to reach 100 TOPS in 2025, nearly four times higher than in 2021. This trend is also increasing premium SoC ASPs, as brands move to advanced nodes and integrate more semiconductor content, enhancing CPU, GPU, and NPU performance for on-device GenAI.
Parashar added:
- Apple continues to lead in premium GenAI SoCs through its A-series chips, leveraging the Neural Engine and tight hardware-software integration for optimized performance.
- Qualcomm leads the premium Android market with on-device GenAI starting from Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, emphasizing multimodal AI through its Hexagon AI engine.
- MediaTek initiated its on-device GenAI push with the Dimensity 9300 series, focusing on big-core designs, power efficiency, and LLM-based applications.
Note: Premium SoCs include Apple A-series, Snapdragon 800 series, Dimensity 9000 series, Exynos 2000 series, HiSilicon Kirin 9000 series, and Google Tensor series.
Mid-Range SoCs See Rapid GenAI Adoption
The $300–$499 segment is expected to witness a threefold YoY increase in GenAI-capable smartphone SoC shipments in 2025, representing 38% of the segment total.
- Qualcomm leads with 57% share, leveraging Snapdragon 700 and Snapdragon 6 series GenAI SoCs.
- MediaTek pioneered mid-range GenAI with the Dimensity 8000 series.
Senior Analyst Parv Sharma noted that growth in mid-range GenAI SoCs is driven by faster adoption as smartphone vendors aim to provide richer AI experiences. He explained that SoC manufacturers are optimizing LLMs for mid-tier devices, and penetration is expected to expand further as lower-end SoCs begin offering GenAI capabilities. Sharma emphasized that Qualcomm and MediaTek’s efforts are helping ensure efficient deployment of GenAI models while maintaining performance and power efficiency.