Key Takeaways:
- A quarter of smartphone owners (25%) do not find AI features useful, 45% are reluctant to pay a monthly subscription fee for AI capabilities, and 34% of them have privacy concerns.
- Just over half (52%) of smartphone owners are not interested in purchasing a foldable phone.
- The biggest motivation for US adult smartphone owners to upgrade their devices is longer battery life (61%), followed by more storage (46%) and better camera features (38%). Only 18% say AI integrations are their top driver.
While smartphone makers like Apple, Google and Samsung are increasingly emphasizing AI features in their latest devices, a CNET survey shows that a quarter of smartphone owners don’t find these capabilities particularly useful, and only 18% say AI integrations are their main motivation. for upgrading their phone.
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According to respondents, the biggest drivers for buying a new device are longer battery life (61%), more storage space (46%) and better camera features (38%).
This comes as Apple rolls out its latest batch Apple Intelligence features with iOS 18.2including ChatGPT integration for Siri, the ability to create custom emoji Genmoji and a text-to-image tool called Image Playground. The iPhone maker debuted its first wave of AI-powered capabilities in October, including a smarter Siri, AI-powered writing tools And photo editing. Apple Intelligence is available at iPhone 15 Pro models and the iPhone 16 lineup (as well as iPad and Mac models with the M1 chip and higher). iPhone 16 owners will also have access to this Visual intelligencea visual search tool that helps you identify objects and places around you and surface relevant information.
Google also leaned heavily on AI features when it launched the Pixel 9 series in August, which devoted much of the keynote discussing new Gemini features like Livewhich allows you to have a natural-sounding back-and-forth conversation with the virtual assistant. On his July Unpacked event, Samsung similarly praised Galaxy AIwhich can simplify tasks such as translating messages and editing photos.
These new features rely on generative AI to produce text or images or to enhance digital assistants. AI itself has been embedded in smartphones for years. For example, your phone’s camera uses AI to process images and blur backgrounds in portrait mode, and Siri and Google Assistant have always been AI-based (albeit with less advanced versions of the technology). Because this new wave of AI introduces ways to perform tasks more explicitly on your phone, rather than blending in with existing features, it may take some time for people to get used to it.
AI could soon cost you money, and not everyone is sold
As tech giants continue to roll out these AI features, consumers may soon have to pay the price if they want to continue using them. Samsung’s website states that the Galaxy AI features “will be available for free on supported Samsung Galaxy devices until the end of 2025.” To unleash the full power of Gemini in Google’s apps, you’ll need to subscribe Gemini Advanced. It’s likely that Apple could do the same someday charges for some of its AI-powered iPhone features.
A lot of consumers are not sold. Nearly half of smartphone owners say they are unwilling to pay extra money to access AI on their phone. That’s not really a surprise, given how much subscription fatigue is already weighing people down. Another one CNET investigation April found that American adults spend an average of $91 on subscription services every month. Two-thirds of respondents indicate that at least one of their subscriptions has become more expensive in the past year. Adding another monthly fee may not be as attractive.
Still, there are people who are eager to use AI on their phones, with Gen Zers and Millennials being the most enthusiastic: 20% of respondents from each generation say they are excited about AI capabilities and find them useful. Additionally, 15% of Gen Zers and 16% of Millennials use AI on their phones for tasks such as photo editing, creating images, and summarizing or writing text. Additionally, 20% of Gen Zers and 19% of Millennials regularly use an AI tool such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini on their smartphones.
Privacy remains a key concern when it comes to AI, with a third (34%) of smartphone owners expressing their discomfort in that area. Tech giants have increasingly emphasized privacy concerns during their AI-focused keynotes. Be with Global Developer Conference in June, for example, Apple noted a lot of it AI models run on the devicewhich is generally considered more private because information does not have to travel over the internet. When a task requires more computing power, relevant data is sent Apple Silicon serversand that data is not saved or made accessible to Apple, the company says.
The biggest reasons to upgrade a phone
With AI being one of the last reasons consumers want to upgrade their smartphones, other considerations such as longer battery life, more storage, and better camera features still dominate. Other motivators include phone display and screen size (32%); keep the same ecosystem, such as iOS or Android (24%); and telephone color (10%).
Given the high cost of devices (many flagship phones cost anywhere from $800 to $1200), consumers may not want this upgrade their devices so often. According to our research, 44% claim that they will only get a new device if their current phone breaks or needs to be replaced. Furthermore, 30% keep their device for three years or more, while 18% upgrade every two years and only 8% get a new phone every year.
Fortunately for consumers, Apple has not implemented a price increase with the iPhone 16. Still, iPhone users hold on to their devices longer than other smartphone owners; a third wait three years or more for an upgrade.
The hype for foldable phones just isn’t there yet
Companies like Google and Samsung have continued to roll out foldable phones, the latest of which is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Galaxy Z Flip And Fold 6respectively. Consumers are still lukewarm about the concept of a foldable handheld device. Just over half (52%) of smartphone owners say they are not interested in buying a foldable phone, while 13% say they would be interested sometime in the next two years.
That gives Apple, which has yet to enter the foldable phone market, the opportunity to capitalize on that interest. Experts have long speculated that a foldable iPhone could be what’s needed to drive wider adoption of foldable smartphones. If that ever happens, it could be several years before that happens.
Methodology
All figures unless otherwise stated are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,484 adults, including 2,387 smartphone owners. The fieldwork was conducted from August 28 to 30, 2024. The survey was conducted online. The figures are weighted and are representative of all American adults (18 years and older).
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