AI Is About to Make Smartphones Obsolete Here’s Why It’s Just the Beginning

Major analysts warn 40 percent fewer smartphone downloads by 2027, as Gen-AI devices become smarter companions than screens.

Early in 2025, Gartner issued a stunning forecast: by 2027, global mobile app usage will decline by 25 percent, as users increasingly turn to AI assistants over traditional apps and interfaces (mobileworldlive.com).

Even when smartphones remain, they may no longer resemble what we carry today. The writing’s on the wall—and it's not on a screen.

Already, innovative companies are prototyping screen-free AI devices that could replace phones. Meta’s Orion smart glasses, for example, combine real-time perception with AI assistance, allowing users to interact via holograms, gestures, and voice—all without pulling out a phone (thesun.co.uk). Meanwhile, OpenAI’s collaboration with legendary designer Jony Ive hints at a future where personal phones might look nothing like today's sleek rectangles (theweek.com).

The Shift: Smartphones versus AI Assistants

A detailed 2025 survey by IDC and Gartner predicts as many as 295 million AI-powered smartphones and PCs will ship in 2024–25—and that number will soar by 2028. These devices feature powerful on-device NPUs, enabling real-time generative AI without constant cloud access (computerworld.com). Deloitte echoes this projection, estimating that by the end of 2025, more than 30 percent of smartphones shipped globally will be Gen-AI enabled (deloitte.com).

These smart devices do more than just talk—they anticipate. Built-in AI assistants will handle tasks like scheduling, language translation, visual recognition, and even proactive suggestions based on context and behavior.

Beyond Apps: The End of the App Era

According to Gartner, the traditional app model is under threat. As AI assistance becomes seamless across ecosystems—Apple GPT, Google Assistant, ChatGPT—users may no longer open apps manually. Instead, they’ll rely on AI agents embedded in devices and services that feel more intuitive than screens ever could (mobileworldlive.com, world-of-photonics.com).

People are already using features like “Circle to Search” on Android and Live Translation in iOS without thinking. Soon, AI agents could perform tasks before they even open the phone.

The Use Cases: What This Means Daily

Visual assistants that interpret your surroundings and summarize visually (e.g. “What’s that sign say?”).
Conversational agents that book meeting rooms, shop online, or pull up your next Zoom call—all hands-free.
Proactive knowledge delivery, like subtle head-up updates during conversations or travel.
Edge-intelligent processing that enhances privacy and responsiveness without cloud latency (based on recent edge AI hardware research and deployment models) (blogs.idc.com, reddit.com).

As user demands evolve, smartphones may morph into wearables, earbuds, or AI pins—no screen required.

Why This Shift Matters—and What’s at Risk

Reliance on apps and touchscreens has defined personal tech for over 17 years. But AI agents offer a seamless alternative—one rooted in context, not clicks. This change opens concerns:

Privacy and data control: How do embedded AI assistants capture and process sensitive contextual data?
Platform monopoly risk: AI assistants may centralize interfaces under fewer providers like Apple, Google, Meta, or OpenAI.
Accessibility or exclusion: Not everyone may want hands-free assistants or constant ambient listening.

Still, analysts see opportunity. Gartner says businesses must rethink mobile-first strategies in favor of AI-agent-first design paradigms (mobileworldlive.com).

Final Thought

You may still carry a smartphone. But by 2028, you might use it less than your AI companion. Whether it’s 35 percent, 50 percent, or even 100 percent less depends on how fast Apple GPT, Google Gemini, OpenAI hardware, and Meta’s Orion devices evolve. One thing is clear: the traditional phone might survive—but the way we interact with it is already changing.

Sources

Gartner: “AI threat to mobile app usage,” 2025 (mobileworldlive.com)
Business Insider & Tech Innovation news: Meta Orion glasses replacing smartphones, 2024–25 demonstrations (thesun.co.uk)
Deloitte prediction: Gen-AI smartphones exceeding 30 percent by end-2025 (deloitte.com)
IDC & Gartner analysis: shipments of AI-PCs and smartphones, NPU forecasts (computerworld.com)
On-device edge intelligence survey (2025) (arxiv.org)
Citigroup analysis of portable AI hardware architectures (citigroup.com)
World-of-Photonics industry insight: AI equals smartphone significance (world-of-photonics.com)