Das neue Gerät "hat einen integrierten Lüfter". Wird OPPOs Wette auf KI und die Mittel- und untere Preisklasse gelingen?

Do phones in the AI era need to be equipped with fans?

Recently, the active cooling system of OPPO's K13 Turbo series, which "comes with a built - in fan", has been particularly eye - catching. According to official OPPO data, the single - day activation volume of the OPPO K13 Turbo series on its first sales day increased by 380% compared with the previous generation.

With the weather getting hotter and the demand for phone performance soaring, OPPO's decision to apply the "built - in fan" technology to the mid - to - low - end market might just be a trial. However, the significant increase in single - day activation volume compared with the previous generation to some extent confirms the market feasibility of the active cooling fan solution.

For OPPO, against the backdrop of announcing the abandonment of self - developed chips and a continuous decline in its domestic phone market share, will continuously increasing bets on AI and engaging in fierce competition in the mid - to - low - end market help it win back the lost phone users?

Do AI phones all need active cooling?

As early as 2019, Nubia's Red Magic 3 was the first to introduce a built - in fan in a phone, achieving active cooling. As a gaming - oriented phone at that time, the Red Magic 3 was quite remarkable.

However, since then, the active cooling technology with a built - in fan has been either looked down upon or "put on hold" by major phone manufacturers for many years.

The main reasons are as follows. Firstly, it is really difficult to "carve out" a large space in a phone, considering the extremely limited internal design space of a phone. Secondly, it is hard to pass the dust - proof and waterproof certification because the active cooling system with a built - in fan must have air inlets and outlets. Thirdly, the addition of a fan may make the phone thicker, and phone repair can also be a problem.

According to some current reviews, compared with Red Magic's through - type solution, the L - shaped fin solution of the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro, with air intake from the back and exhaust from the side, doubles the air volume while reducing the volume occupancy by about 70%. In terms of specific game performance, taking "Honkai: Star Rail" as an example, when the fan is turned on, the game performance of the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro far exceeds that of the Redmi Turbo 4 Pro. From the perspective of performance and the built - in solution, active cooling with a built - in fan seems feasible.

Image source: Jikewan

Currently, the internal cooling structure of a phone consists of multiple layers of VC vapor chambers, graphite cooling films, copper foils, thermal greases, back covers, middle frame assemblies, etc. The purpose is to take away the heat generated by the heat source, which is essentially "passive cooling". Thanks to the popularization of built - in cooling devices such as VC vapor chambers by various manufacturers in 2021 and the continuous optimization of their systems, the performance of phones from various manufacturers has been significantly enhanced.

In 2022, with the release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 and MediaTek Dimensity 9200, the processors of Android phones began to catch up with and even surpass Apple's A - series processors. Major manufacturers' phones started to pursue full - frame operation for high - load games such as "Genshin Impact", "Honkai: Star Rail", and "Honkai: Undying". Game performance has become the main battlefield for major manufacturers to showcase their phone performance.

On the other hand, while phone performance has been improving, game manufacturers have also enhanced the graphics quality according to the improved phone performance. At the same time, relevant reviews have extended their focus from game load frame rates to other indicators such as power consumption and heat generation.

The biggest problem with passive cooling lies in heat dissipation. The heat can only be radiated out through passive contact with the air, which is inefficient. The active fan cooling solution creates air convection inside the electronic device to take away the heat more quickly. Compared with the traditional passive cooling method, active cooling has more advantages in heat management. It can effectively prevent the chip from down - clocking due to high temperature and release the chip's performance potential to some extent, supporting a higher continuous power output capacity.

As the penetration rate of large AI models in edge devices continues to increase, the mainstream passive cooling solutions cannot meet the rapidly growing cooling needs of the industry. Therefore, the research and development of active cooling technology has been favored by capital.

According to Yingke news, Ruimeng Semiconductor has received tens of millions of RMB in a Pre - A+ round of investment from Yida Capital and Hechuang Capital. This is already the third round of financing that Ruimeng Semiconductor has received within a year, and the annual financing scale is approaching 100 million RMB. "From the perspective of market demand, due to the rise of large AI models, the cooling needs of cloud and edge - side chips are extremely urgent," explained Li Bing, the founder & CEO of Ruimeng Semiconductor, regarding the company's focus on the cooling track.

Yao Bo, an investment director at Yida Capital, analyzed that "the cooling problem has become a common concern in the industry and an urgent core pain point to be solved. Relying on the existing passive cooling solutions can no longer meet the rapidly increasing cooling demand."

Meanwhile, the industry has also made new breakthroughs in active cooling technology. According to Kuaikeji news, at the 2024 Taipei International Computer Show, Frore Systems launched the AirJet PAK, the world's first plug - and - play, autonomous, solid - state active cooling module, which can bring disruptive cooling effects to many fields and devices, making them faster, quieter, lighter, thinner, and also shock - resistant and dust - proof.

According to relevant reviews, after the 15 - inch MacBook Air M2 was modified with the AirJet PAK, its thickness remained unchanged, but the CPU power consumption increased from 14W to 20W, and the CineBench score increased by 13%, reaching the level of the 13 - inch MacBook Pro, while the noise was only 26 decibels.

On June 16, Awinic Technology issued a new product announcement, stating that its self - developed ultra - low - power, high - voltage 180Vpp piezoelectric micropump liquid - cooling drive product has introduced the liquid - cooling solution into mobile devices. This product has completed verification tests with several customers and is planned to be mass - produced in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Like OPPO, the trend of active cooling has reached the phone industry, and many phone brands have plans to add active cooling solutions to their new products. Previously, a blogger reported that Huawei is already testing an active cooling solution with a built - in fan. The Huawei Mate 80 series may be the first to be equipped with a cooling fan and support IP68 - level dust and water resistance, using active cooling to increase the performance ceiling of the Kirin chips.

Image source: Digital Chat Station

It's not just OPPO and Huawei. Domestic mainstream phone manufacturers such as iQOO and OnePlus have also been reported to be adding active cooling and installing fans in their phones.

Dongbei Securities analysis believes that active cooling can unleash the infinite potential of edge - side AI. The real value of the design of micro - fans/micropump liquid cooling lies in paving the way for edge - side AI. The characteristic of continuous full - load operation of the chip during the inference of large language models exactly requires the stable output guaranteed by fans. When the performance competition shifts from "peak benchmark scores" to "endurance", active cooling may become a must - have for flagship phones.

Image source: Dongbei Securities Co., Ltd.

In ordinary people's lives, even non - game enthusiasts need to pay attention to the phone's cooling system. High temperatures in summer, long - term high - specification video recording, and high - intensity photography will all put a heavy burden on the phone's cooling system. Although it remains to be seen how many manufacturers will follow the built - in fan solution and put it into market practice, OPPO has indeed become the pioneer in the "cooling" competition in the phone market.

As an OPPO K - series phone, the K13 Turbo Pro precisely targets the niche market of consumers who "want high performance, long battery life, but have a limited budget". However, as a typical "uneven performer", the K13 Turbo Pro performs excellently in game performance and battery life but makes some compromises in slim design and imaging performance.

Judging from the 380% increase in single - day activation volume compared with the previous generation, the precise positioning of the A - series and K - series for different audiences may help OPPO stabilize its market position and continuously expand its territory in the mid - to - low - end phone market.

In the highly competitive mid - to - low - end market, can OPPO achieve its goals?

Can OPPO break through by betting on AI and engaging in fierce competition in the mid - to - low - end market?

It's worth noting that the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro is directly competing with the Redmi Turbo 4 Pro. The OPPO K13 Turbo Pro starts at 1999 yuan and is 1699 yuan after subsidies. The Redmi Turbo 4 Pro is priced at 1888 yuan, and its subsidized price is 1614 yuan. The price difference between the two after subsidies is only more than 80 yuan. The competition between the two in the mid - to - low - end phone market has been going on for a long time.

According to Canalys' forecast data for the second quarter of 2025, although OPPO occupies the third place with a 16% market share, its shipment volume has decreased by 5% compared with the same period last year. In terms of market share, OPPO outperforms Xiaomi, but the gap in shipment volume between the two is narrowing.

Image source: Canalys

Previously, as early as 2016, OPPO's annual phone sales reached 99.4 million units. With a year - on - year growth of 132% globally and 109% in China, OPPO leaped to become the fourth - largest phone manufacturer globally and the first in China. This trend continued until 2018. With annual sales of 76.37 million units, OPPO ranked first in the Chinese phone market.

Relying on the combined advantages of ultra - fast charging and star endorsements, OPPO expanded rapidly in third - and fourth - tier cities. However, with the intensified offline layout of manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OPPO's advantages diminished. At the same time, the long - standing image of being a "phone for factory girls" and the label of "high price, low configuration" made it difficult for OPPO to break through to the high - end market despite having good sales. In 2019, OPPO's annual market share declined.

To change the label of "high price, low configuration" and enter the high - end market, OPPO changed its marketing strategy, quietly reduced variety show sponsorships and endorsements by popular stars, and strengthened its technology - driven approach. Taking the popular variety show "Who's the Murderer?" as an example, OPPO sponsored the show for five consecutive seasons starting from the second season. However, when the seventh season of the show premiered, OPPO quietly withdrew from the sponsorship list.

In December 2019, Chen Mingyong, the founder and CEO of OPPO, delivered a speech titled "Co - creating a New Ecosystem of All - Things Interconnection", announcing that OPPO would invest 50 billion yuan in R & D over the next three years, mainly focusing on cutting - edge technologies such as 5G/6G, artificial intelligence, AR, and big data, including core underlying hardware technologies, software engineering, and system capabilities.

Meanwhile, OPPO also made changes in its management. In 2020, there were continuous "shocks" in OPPO's management. Vice - President Liu Bo was appointed as the president of the China region, reporting to CEO Chen Mingyong. Shen Yiren, the former global marketing president, took a leave of absence, and his position was taken over by Liu Lie, an old - timer in the company, who also served as the chief marketing officer of the China region. At the same time, Liu Zuohu returned and was appointed as the senior vice - president of OPPO's parent company, OPPO Holding, fully responsible for product planning and experience under OPPO Holding.

The high - end route is often associated with self - developed chips. Taking Huawei as an example, in 2019, Huawei launched six chips in one go, from the world's first 7nm chip to chips supporting dual - mode 5G. The differentiation of self - developed chips helped Huawei continuously increase its share in the smartphone market, making it the leader in the 5G phone market in 2019.

However, compared with Huawei's 20 - year layout of self - developed chips, OPPO did not have high sales and high profits to support the R & D of self - developed chips. Moreover, for a company with a single business like OPPO, it might not be necessary to invest a large amount of money every year for an uncertain future. In May 2023, Zeku, OPPO's chip - design subsidiary, announced its dissolution.

At that time, OPPO responded that in the face of the uncertainties in the global economy and the phone market, after careful consideration, the company decided to terminate the ZEKU business. Affected by the economic environment and the extended phone replacement cycle, OPPO's shipment volume in 2022 dropped to the lowest level since 2014, a year - on - year decrease of 22%.

Under the pressure of declining revenue, OPPO found it difficult to sustain such a large - scale capital consumption. Eventually, choosing to "cut losses" might have been a wise but helpless move.

However, giving up self - developed chips is almost equivalent to giving up the high - end market. Therefore, OPPO has set its sights on the mid - to - low - end market and AI phones.

However, in the mid - to - low - end market, opponents like Xiaomi and vivo are not easy to deal with. On March 28, 2023, at the launch event of the Redmi Note 12 Turbo, Xiaomi deliberately designed a performance competition, directly competing with the newly launched OnePlus Ace 2V and Ace 2 to prove that its frame rate and power consumption perform better in game scenarios.

So, what advantages does OPPO have to compete with other manufacturers? The OPPO Find X8 seems to show that OPPO is betting on "what young users like". Young users like to take beautiful photos, so soft - light effects and film filters are added. Young users like to share Live Photos on social platforms, so the Find X8 is compatible with Apple's HEIC format. Young users like straight - screen phones and the Dynamic Island, so these features are also added.

Although it has been mocked as the "OPhone", according to 36