Samsung Launches AI-Powered Phones with Qualcomm Chips, Hints at Sleeker Galaxy Models

Photo : Reuters

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) unveiled its new Galaxy S25 smartphones on Wednesday, powered by Qualcomm's chips and a new AI model from Google. The company hopes the updated AI features will help boost sales and compete with Apple and Chinese smartphone makers.

Samsung also gave a preview of a thinner version of the flagship models, teasing the Galaxy S25 Edge, which they plan to release in the first half of this year. This move comes ahead of Apple’s expected launch of its slimmer iPhone.

While Samsung’s AI-powered smartphones arrived before Apple’s, the company struggled to regain its top spot in the global smartphone market last year. It faced tough competition from Apple in the high-end market and Chinese brands in the lower-end market. However, Park Ji-sun, an executive at Samsung, is optimistic, saying, “We are ahead of the industry in offering AI features, and I believe we are going in the right direction.”

Samsung kept the prices of the Galaxy S25 series between $799 and $1,299. The Galaxy S25 uses Gemini, an AI engine from Google’s parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), and includes Samsung’s improved voice assistant, Bixby. Park said the two AI tools work well together and that Bixby is important for Samsung, which uses the assistant across various products, including phones, TVs, and home appliances.

However, Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester, believes that Bixby will face challenges in standing out among other AI assistants. He said, “I don’t think there is a killer app today that would convince people to buy the phone just because it has AI.”

Despite this, Husson mentioned that the AI features could help Samsung’s brand. The Galaxy S25 will offer a more personalized experience. One of its features, "Now Brief," will recommend items based on data stored on the phone for privacy reasons. These recommendations may include things like calendars, news, and even the air temperature or carbon dioxide levels in the user’s bedroom. The phone will also be able to perform multiple tasks with a single command, like finding upcoming sports events and adding them to the user’s calendar.

Samsung’s stock dropped 1.1%, underperforming the market, which fell by 0.4%. For the Galaxy S25, Samsung chose to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform instead of its own Exynos chip. This marks a significant change for Samsung, as it had previously used both chips to negotiate better deals with suppliers. This decision to use Qualcomm’s chip has raised concerns about Samsung’s chip business, as its mobile division is one of the company’s major chip customers. Samsung did not explain why it chose not to use its own chips for this model, but it is expected to use the Exynos chip in its foldable phones later this year.

Lim Su-jeong, an associate director at research firm Counterpoint, said, “The success of the Galaxy S25 series is important for Samsung, especially as its foldable phone sales have been facing challenges from Chinese companies.”

Earlier this month, Samsung’s preliminary profit for the fourth quarter missed estimates by a significant margin, mainly due to the costs of chip development and growing competition in the smartphone market.

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