“OpenAI is not a hardware company and must prove its phone performs well against the competition in terms of memory, camera quality, size, weight, screen responsiveness — all of that can be a challenge for an organization without a hardware background,” noted Jennifer Kent, senior vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, a market research and consulting company specializing in consumer technology products, in Dallas.

She also pointed out that OpenAI’s strategy is to have an agent set on top of various apps and dominate interactions with end users. “Many developers will see that as an existential threat,” she told TechNewsWorld. “OpenAI will have to work to prove that app developers will thrive in an OpenAI operating system.”

“iOS and Android dominate the smartphone market, particularly in the U.S.,” she said. “Apple customers are particularly loyal, and all current players develop experiences that are better across device types and family members, if you stick within an ecosystem. This is a major barrier to consumers switching to a new OS.”

Kent added that consumer concerns about AI are very high. “ChatGPT’s user satisfaction rates, as measured by our Net Promoter Score, are low,” she explained. “OpenAI will need massive marketing to create consumer demand for an OpenAI smartphone.”

From the article, "OpenAI Eyes AI Agent Phone, Kuo Says" by John P. Mello Jr.