In the era of AI, almost all products deserve to be reimagined.

Hence, we witness the emergence of AI Office, AI PC, AI Phone, and various other products infused with AI capabilities.

Especially in the realm of AI Phones, major phone manufacturers perceive a potential for disruption and are gearing up for a significant push.

Apple recently introduced iOS18, collaborating with OpenAI to integrate AI functionalities into its system, dubbed "Apple Intelligence," abbreviated as "AI," with the Chinese name "Apple 智能".

Crucially, Apple has opened AI APIs to all developers, transforming its AI into a universal capability, enabling third-party apps to leverage Apple's AI functions and facilitating cross-app operations.

Truthfully, this AI capability is currently unmatched by Android manufacturers. Many so-called AI phones from Android brands merely install an AI app that cannot operate across apps, limited to specific interfaces.

Following Apple's iOS18 release, Samsung swiftly followed suit.

At Samsung's recent product launch, the term "AI" was mentioned hundreds of times, with AI being a central theme across foldable phones, smart rings, smartwatches, and earbuds.

Similar to Apple, Samsung has integrated AI into its systems, turning it into a core capability, enabling features like on-device processing, personalization, contextual awareness, and personal knowledge graphs.

While Apple's AI is tightly integrated with OpenAI, Samsung's AI is strongly tied to Google's Gemini.

Samsung has even replaced its voice assistant with Google's, allowing users to activate it by saying "Hey Google," clearly leveraging Google's AI capabilities.

A Google executive was present at the event, hinting at Gemini's integration into other Android flagship devices beyond Samsung.

Evidently, a new round of competition has ignited between Android and iOS in the realm of AI functionalities.

However, for the Chinese market, it's more of a spectator sport. Both Apple AI and Samsung AI are blocked, excluded from the Chinese market.

OpenAI, Apple's partner, cannot enter the Chinese market, so for Apple's AI to land in China, it would need to collaborate with a local AI vendor, which is yet to materialize. Moreover, switching AI supply chains would alter capabilities.

The same applies to Samsung AI, which collaborates with Google. Google's Gemini does not support mainland China, thus barring Samsung's AI from the Chinese market.

If Samsung's AI were to enter China, it would similarly require a local supplier, resulting in AI capabilities different from Google's Gemini.

It seems that for robust AI functionalities in the Chinese market, domestic phone brands may be the answer, as Apple and Samsung's AI offerings are unlikely to enter China anytime soon. Domestic phones have no such restrictions, leaving them to decide whether to develop AI capabilities independently or collaborate with other enterprises.