2024: A Roundup of AI-Powered Smartphone Blockbusters In-depth Analysis of Ten Top Sellers

2024: A Roundup of AI-Powered Smartphone Blockbusters In-depth Analysis of Ten Top Sellers2024 saw AI-powered technological innovation take center stage, with the philosophy of "focusing on applications rather than specs" gaining widespread acceptance. AI acted as a "magic wand" for technological innovation, profoundly impacting numerous industries, including smartphones, PCs, home appliances, and automobiles

2024: A Roundup of AI-Powered Smartphone Blockbusters In-depth Analysis of Ten Top Sellers

2024 saw AI-powered technological innovation take center stage, with the philosophy of "focusing on applications rather than specs" gaining widespread acceptance. AI acted as a "magic wand" for technological innovation, profoundly impacting numerous industries, including smartphones, PCs, home appliances, and automobiles. While the smartphone market didn't experience explosive growth in 2024, it showed signs of recovery, with a flurry of new products and manufacturers vying for the emerging opportunities. Chip technology continued to advance, design styles diversified, and AI-powered systems and application ecosystems expanded. This article delves into ten highly anticipated smartphone blockbusters of 2024, exploring the reasons behind their success.

Ten Top-Selling Smartphones of the Year Each a Sales Champion

Unlike the fierce competition in hardware specifications in the previous two years, manufacturers in 2024 focused more on functional innovation and design differentiation. Examples include Honor's AI-powered autonomous driving and OPPO's aesthetically pleasing small straight-screen phones, strategies that yielded unexpected results. Models like the vivo X200 Pro Mini (small-screen flagship) and Xiaomi MIX Flip ("instant camera alternative") generated significant buzz on social media platforms. We will now analyze these ten blockbuster smartphones in detail (in no particular order):

1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Concert King, a Prime Example of AI's Successful Entry into China

Samsung is one of the most proactive global smartphone manufacturers embracing AI. At the Galaxy Unpacked event on January 18th, 2024, Samsung changed its brand slogan to "Galaxy AI," with the Galaxy S24 series becoming its first product line fully integrated with AI.

The Galaxy S24 series also exemplifies the successful entry of overseas AI smartphone manufacturers into the Chinese market. Samsung collaborated with Baidu's Wenxin Yiyan to launch the "Circle Search" function, with Meitu Xiuxiu for AI photo editing, and with WPS for AI writing. This collaboration with local professional AI service providers yielded significant results.

The most significant upgrade of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the enhancement of its previously acclaimed 10MP ten-fold periscope lens to a 5x periscope lens with a larger sensor and higher pixel count, optimized for concerts and music festivals. On social media platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo, "Should I rent a Galaxy S24 Ultra to go to a concert?" became a trending topic.

Thanks to Samsung's global AI strategy, the Galaxy S24 series achieved the highest pre-order sales in recent years, reaching 12 million units in the first quarter, with the Galaxy S24 Ultra accounting for a significantly larger proportion than previous generations.

2. Honor X50: Breaking Android Sales Records A Victory of Balanced Configuration and High Cost-Performance

The Honor X50, while not a 2024 release, remained a best-seller since its launch, ranking among the top sellers in the first half of 2024. Honor officially confirmed that the model surpassed 15 million units sold within a year of its release, breaking the sales record for a single Android phone model.

The Honor X50's success stems from its balanced configuration and exceptional cost-performance. It was the first smartphone in the Chinese market to feature a dual-curved OLED display and highlight ten-sided drop resistance, boasting a 6.78-inch eye-protection screen with 1.5K resolution, hardware-level low blue light technology, and 1920Hz high-frequency PWM dimming. It also received a five-star SGS drop resistance certification.

Furthermore, the Honor X50's starting price was only 1399, featuring the Snapdragon 6Gen1 processor and offering a maximum of 16GB+512GB storage, ensuring a smooth user experience for at least three years.

While the Honor X50 lags behind flagship phones in performance and imaging, its influence on the thousand-yuan (approximately $140 USD) phone market is undeniable. Since the X50's launch, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi have all placed greater emphasis on durability in their own thousand-yuan phone models, demonstrating the Honor X50's impact on market trends.

3. iPhone 16 Pro: Criticized for Lack of Innovation, Yet Sales Remain Strong

"Lack of innovation" has become a recurring criticism of iPhones in recent years, but the iPhone 16 Pro's release still generated widespread attention and discussion, albeit with more criticism than praise.

The main upgrades of the iPhone 16 Pro include a new camera control button supporting tap and pressure-sensitive controls. In the US market, this button can act as a visual AI activation key, but in regions where Apple's smart features are not yet available, it functions only as a parameter and shutter button. Another upgrade is the replacement of the 3x telephoto lens with the 5x periscope telephoto lens from the previous "Pro Max" model.

The iPhone 16 Pro's shortcomings lie in the delayed rollout of Apple's smart features, rendering many advertised functions unavailable and leaving consumers feeling they have purchased an unfinished product. Hardware upgrades were relatively modest.

However, global sales of the iPhone 16 series remained strong. Canalys' third-quarter report showed Apple holding a 52% share of the $600+ smartphone market. "Negative publicity is still publicity"Apple might be using controversy to attract market attention. The iPhone now resembles a consumer brand like Coca-Cola, relying on its classic formula for continued sales success.

4. Xiaomi MIX Flip: A Unique Approach to Imaging Foldables; Accessories More Popular Than the Phone

The Xiaomi MIX Flip was a later entry into the foldable phone market from a major manufacturer, initially met with skepticism due to the target demographic of small foldable phones being primarily women, a market segment where Xiaomi had historically been weaker; additionally, the small foldable phone market was already saturated.

However, the "imaging set" unveiled at the Xiaomi MIX Flip launch, comprising the phone and a portable printer, unexpectedly became a success. Users could achieve instant camera-like results by simply connecting the phone and the set.

Within the first hour of pre-orders, the imaging set version of the Xiaomi MIX Flip sold out. In the following days, the number of people reserving the printer on JD.com exceeded one million, making it one of the hottest small foldable phones of 2024.

The success of the Xiaomi MIX Flip wasn't accidental. Its portable printer system had already been launched separately, with features like photo printing, cloud storage, and voice recording. The comprehensive functionality of the MIX Flip imaging set was its most appealing feature.

5. OPPO Find X8: "Apple-esque" Style, Accurately Targeting Young Users' Needs

OPPO staged a remarkable comeback in 2024. From the Reno 12 series' straight screen and Live Photo capabilities at the beginning of the year to the Find X8 series' "Apple-esque" style and shadowless capture, each new feature precisely hit the sweet spot with social media users.

The OPPO Find X8 garnered significant attention on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo, primarily due to its improved imaging capabilities. First, it not only supports Live Photo but also debuted three retro filters (NC, NN, CC) and three filter effects that can be applied to dynamic photos. Second, the shadowless capture function offered users broader creative space, satisfying the demand for styles like "Korean-style blockbusters."

The success of the OPPO Find X8 lies in its accurate grasp of young users' preferences and its ability to meet their needs through a user-friendly approach. The Find X8 series' initial sales were double those of its predecessor.

6. Huawei Mate XT: The World's First Tri-Foldable Smartphone, the Biggest Innovation of the Year

The Huawei Mate XT is the world's first mass-produced tri-foldable smartphone, boasting a fully unfolded screen size of 10.2 inches and a thickness of only 3.6mm. Its hinge technology and space utilization are leading in current mass-produced foldable phones.

In addition to its hardware advantages, the Huawei Mate XT's system optimization is also excellent. The HarmonyOS 4.3 supports free switching between three modes, and the multi-app UI adaptation and small window mode are also well-executed.

The Huawei Mate XT's starting price of 19999 reflects its high-end positioning and makes it a rare commodity. Over 6.5 million users pre-ordered on the first day, requiring in-store queuing to purchase. Its high visibility and discussions made it the most "explosive" phone in the 2024 smartphone market.

7. vivo X200 Pro Mini: Trendsetter for Small-Screen Flagships, Fully Loaded with Specs

"Small-screen flagships" became one of the hottest smartphone categories in 2024. The vivo X200 Pro Mini stood out among other small-screen phones with its luxurious configuration: it features the Dimensity 9400 mobile platform and up to 1TB of storage. In terms of imaging, it debuted the IMX818 1/