Now, take a perfect selfie in one shot, thanks to artificial intelligence

The feature is yet to mark its presence in the consumer tech space except in fringes, but is turning out to be the primary differentiator in smartphone cameras

You must have come across people taking pictures, often of themselves, continuously until they arrive at one that satisfies them. You might have done so yourself too. Better looking pictures have flooded the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Estimates say, today, every third picture uploaded on the most popular social media site is pre-edited. This wasn’t the case till some time back.

Thanks to this growing obsession for bright, spotless pictures, particularly selfies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is finally taking the front seat in India’s vibrant smartphone market. A technology that is yet to mark its presence in the consumer technology space except in fringes is turning out to be the primary differentiator in frequently used smartphone cameras.

Making editing tools redundant, AI-enabled cameras, which can recognise and rectify any discrepancies on human skin, are making things easier. Such cameras are offering spotless pictures — ready to be uploaded at once.

According to Vikas Agarwal, general manager of OnePlus India, Indian’s crave for brighter, smoother pictures is driving the transformation. 

“Like in China, Indian consumers are game for smartphone cameras that can offer dazzling portraits or selfies. In western markets, consumers demand for pictures that truly reflect their original skin tone,” he said. OnePlus is the market leader in the premium handsets space (priced over Rs 30,000) and is heavily focused on improving camera technology.

From top brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus to fast growing ones like RealMe, Oppo and Vivo, AI-enabled cameras are the new bet for success. Early movers like Xiaomi, which currently rules the second-largest smartphone market in the world with some 29 per cent market share, has 22 per cent of its cameras AI-enabled.

Oppo, the fifth-largest player that was shipping 3 million handsets during July-September quarter, stands second, with 18 per cent of its cameras AI-enabled. Even new brand like RealMe, from the house of Oppo, has a similar share. RealMe has sold over a million phones since its launch in May. Other popular brands like Nokia, Vivo, LG and Huawei are in the race too.

According to analyst firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), AI-enabled camera smartphones are still at the initial stage, but the focus is clearly on millennials and Gen-Z consumers — the Instagram generation.

The trend is only aiding growth of AI technology in the space. AI-enabled cameras that today form only 8 per cent of the yearly 200 million-unit strong smartphone market is expected to be as frequent as one in every three by next year. And by 2020, every three smartphone cameras, out of five, will be artificially intelligent, CMR estimates.

Like any other new technology, this one made its entry through the mid to premium price segment, but in no time is expected to become mainstream. 

Amit Sharma, analyst, CMR, said, “While adoption of AI cameras is skewed mostly towards mid and premium-end smartphone bands, it is interesting to see brands like Comio pushing AI-enabled camera smartphones under the Rs 10,000 price band, where AI adoption has been modest.”

A recent report by TechArc suggests that specifications have taken a lead over all other aspects like price, brand and discounting. And, camera features are the third most important factor while taking the final call — behind RAM and battery capacity of a device.

The study also noted that 43 per cent of smartphone users take at least one picture a day. And the proportion is higher for female users — at 50 per cent. 

“The camera has become the default content generator hardware in a smartphone due to rising popularity of chat apps,” CMR said. Smartphone original equipment manufacturers will continue to invest in making the camera experience among the best features of a smartphone, the analyst firm said.

Gaurav Tikoo, chief marketing officer, Transsion Holding — a major OEM —said there are other benefits of AI cameras that are more attractive. “AI cameras will help us read unknown languages, as it will manage to translate any text into the language of our choice. Such functions are expected become mainstream in next two-three years,” he said.