Is Android on the brink of “extinction”?
When ChatGPT was released in late 2022, many viewed this AI product as a direct threat to Google’s search engine. This explains Google’s big shift to AI last year, with the pinnacle being Google Gemini AI.
But despite the advent of ChatGPT and AI-based online search alternatives like Perplexity, it seems that Google is still thriving in the new era of artificial intelligence.
But what if AI replaces Android on smartphones in the future?
According to BGR, this question initially didn’t receive much attention. However, the emergence of ChatGPT has catalyzed the development of devices that have never existed before, such as Rabbit R1 and Human AI Pin, with AI at the core. They run operating systems that are not based on Android.
This is what brings the warning that Android smartphones may be the next “extinct” target, and we have already witnessed the first victims.
Recently, we have seen some surprising developments that directly threaten Android. Deutsche Telekom announced a device that aims to “liberate applications for smartphones”.
Rabbit R1
Then, Chinese smartphone provider Meizu announced it will stop producing traditional Android phones, focusing entirely on AI.
Currently, you only have two choices for smartphones. It’s either the iPhone running iOS or a Google-based Android device. Only Apple produces iPhones, but any other company can produce Android phones. That’s why Android is the dominating platform globally.
Android is one of Google’s finest products, realizing the potential of smartphones during the era of Symbian and BlackBerry. But in the era of AI, Android finds itself in a situation similar to Symbian and BlackBerry of the past.
Deutsche Telekom, the German giant, is envisioning an AI-driven smartphone without applications. This is also the goal that Humane and Rabbit propose for their head-mounted devices using AI.
The key point of those experiences is that AI will handle everything without requiring users to access applications.
Together with Brain.ai, the creative interface pioneer, an interface without applications in which AI predicts and generates the next context-specific interface according to your thoughts. Now, users can focus on what they want instead of how to achieve it. AI will be cloud-driven.
Meizu focuses entirely on AI
Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone provider Meizu seems to be ready for a more aggressive approach. Meizu hasn’t received much attention in recent years, but the company still produces smartphones.
And the company just announced a major strategic change. They will “focus entirely on AI” to replace “traditional smartphone projects” with something better.
As 9toGoogle has pointed out, Meizu referenced devices like AI Pin and Rabbit R1 that the company is heading towards in the future. Both are technically smartphones, using SIM cards and phone numbers. However, they don’t look like traditional smartphones.
It is unclear when Meizu will release their first AI products. But the company will bring the Flyme OS interface running on Android on phones to these AI devices.
The current AI pivot makes sense for a smaller company like Meizu. Without a major international presence, Meizu doesn’t have to worry about supporting a huge global user base.
Again, Android in China looks different from what international consumers are familiar with. It is an operating system without Google because Google doesn’t operate in this country. Meizu can easily pivot to another platform as long as it fits.
Not so fast
It is clear that replacing Android with something else will take time and cannot happen overnight.
Furthermore, any efforts to replace Android will fail unless there are developers ready to support it. The first AI-powered phones will need applications to function, regardless of the underlying operating system.
This also opens up the possibility that instead of completely removing Android, Meizu, Deutsche Telekom, and others may find a new way to utilize Google’s operating system.
For Apple, the iPhone doesn’t face such issues. Only Apple can produce iPhones. iOS is not licensed to any other mobile phone provider.
But the possibility exists that Apple will bring AI improvements to the iPhone similar to what Deutsche Telekom, Meizu, Humane, and Rabbit want to achieve.
