Kuo: OpenAI phone is closer than we thought, to use a custom Dimensity SoC

Last month, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that OpenAI was developing an AI-agent smartphone slated for mass production in 2028. Now, Kuo suggests the timeline may have been accelerated and has also shared some early specifications of the device.

According to Kuo, the OpenAI smartphone is now expected to enter mass production in the first half of 2027. The analyst attributes the accelerated timeline to the growing AI phone market, along with a potential year-end IPO.

Ming-Chi Kuo also shared key specifications of OpenAI’s AI agent-focused smartphone. According to the analyst, MediaTek is likely to be the sole SoC supplier. The device is expected to use a customized Dimensity 9600 chipset, which will be built on TSMC’s N2P process in the second half of this year.

Kuo adds that imaging will be a major focus, with the ISP tipped to feature an enhanced HDR pipeline designed to improve real-world visual sensing.

The OpenAI phone is also said to include a dual-NPU architecture for AI workloads, along with LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage. On the security front, it is expected to support pKVM and inline hashing.

According to Kuo, if the development of the phone remains on track, total shipments in 2027 and 2028 could hit 30 million units.

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