Agentic AI-capable SoC shipment penetration reached 4% at the end of 2025, highlighting that the market is still in its early adoption phase, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Smartphone SoC AI Strategy Report.
MediaTek became the first chipset vendor to commercialize Agentic AI capabilities through the Dimensity 9400 series, followed by Qualcomm with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 platforms. This marked the beginning of a new smartphone AI cycle in which devices increasingly shifted from AI assistants to autonomous, context-aware AI experiences, according to Counterpoint.
An Agentic AI smartphone is capable of running AI systems that can autonomously understand context, plan actions, make decisions, and execute multi-step tasks on behalf of the user.
Apple didn’t have a dedicated Agentic AI smartphone at the end of 2025, but its custom silicon, Neural Engine, unified memory architecture, and tightly integrated ecosystem positions the company strongly for this transition, according to Counterpoint. The company’s entry could significantly reshape the market, especially if it focuses heavily on on-device AI processing, opines the research group.
Agentic AI smartphone SoC shipments are expected to grow rapidly at a 281% compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2027, with penetration rising to 32% by 2027 from just 1% in 2024. Counterpoint says this shift is expected to become a major catalyst for the next smartphone upgrade cycle, while also accelerating premiumization across the market. As “Agentic AI capabilities gradually move beyond flagship devices, the transition will create new growth opportunities for the broader ecosystem, including chipset vendors, smartphone brands, AI model developers, app players, memory suppliers, and other supply-chain participants aiming to bring advanced AI experiences to mass-market consumers,” says Counterpoint.
By the way, a System on a Chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that consolidates all essential computer components—including the CPU, memory, GPU, and input/output controllers—onto a single chip. This design drastically reduces size and power consumption while increasing speed, making them ideal for smartphones, laptops, IoT devices, and automotive systems
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