By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled its latest Galaxy S25 smartphones, powered by Qualcomm (NASDAQ:)’s chips and Google’s artificial-intelligence mannequin, hoping its upgraded AI options can reinvigorate gross sales and fend off Apple (NASDAQ:) and Chinese language rivals.
Samsung (KS:) additionally previewed a thinner model of the flagship fashions on the finish of an occasion in California, aiming to launch the Galaxy S25 Edge within the first half of this 12 months forward of Apple’s anticipated rollout of its slimmer iPhone.
Samsung was sooner than Apple in launching an AI-powered smartphone however didn’t regain its crown within the world smartphone market final 12 months, squeezed by competitors with the U.S. rival within the premium market and with Chinese language corporations within the lower-end phase.
“We’re one step forward of the trade by way of providing AI options. I consider we’re moving into the appropriate path,” Park Ji-sun, the manager vp who leads Samsung’s Language AI group, instructed Reuters.
Samsung saved the costs of its Galaxy S25 collection unchanged at between $799 and $1,299.
The brand new Galaxy S25 makes use of Gemini provided by Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s Google as its default AI engine, and options Samsung’s upgraded in-house voice assistant, Bixby, Park mentioned.
The 2 instruments complement one another, and Bixby performs a key position at Samsung, whose merchandise span cell phones to TVs and residential home equipment, he mentioned.
Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester, mentioned that differentiating Bixby can be a problem for Samsung.
“I do not suppose there’s actually a killer software at the moment that you realize would persuade them (customers), ‘OK, I will purchase this one as a result of it is an AI smartphone,'” he mentioned.
Husson added, nonetheless, that AI options may create a halo impact across the Samsung model.
The Galaxy S25 will supply a extra personalised AI expertise. For instance, its “Now Temporary” service – which makes suggestions to customers based mostly on personalised information that’s saved and processed on the telephone for privateness causes – will show a collection of customised objects equivalent to calendars, information and bed room air temperature and carbon dioxide ranges, Park mentioned.
The telephone will have the ability to perform a number of duties with a single command, equivalent to discovering upcoming sporting occasions after which including them to customers’ calendars.
Samsung shares have been down 1.1%, lagging the broader market’s 0.4% loss.
Samsung used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Cell Platform for the whole Galaxy S25 lineup, ditching its personal cellular chip Exynos, a serious change of technique for a corporation that beforehand used each to have extra bargaining energy with suppliers.
Utilizing a Qualcomm chip is a setback to the South Korean agency’s chip enterprise, which counts its cellular division as one among its main prospects.
Samsung didn’t say why it determined to not use its personal chips within the new mannequin.
An individual aware of the matter mentioned Samsung is trying to make use of the Exynos chip in its foldable telephones to be launched later this 12 months.
“The Galaxy S25 collection’ sale is necessary at a time when Samsung’s foldable telephone gross sales have been stagnating within the face of challenges from Chinese language firms,” Lim Su-jeong, affiliate director at analysis agency Counterpoint, mentioned.
Samsung’s preliminary fourth-quarter revenue, launched earlier this month, missed estimates by a big margin on account of chip improvement prices and rising competitors within the smartphone market.
