Samsung unveiled a litany of new devices on Wednesday during its Unpacked event in Paris, France. Not only did the company show off its latest foldable smartphones, the Android ( GOOG , GOOGL ) Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, as well as its next-generation smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra, but it also launched its high quality expected Galaxy Ring.
But the star of the show was the company’s Galaxy AI platform. A suite of software products that the company originally released with its Galaxy S24 line of smartphones earlier this year, Galaxy AI includes a range of generative AI capabilities that touch on everything from Samsung’s health and fitness apps to photo, productivity and web browser suggestions .
The strategy is clear: Samsung is banking on its AI efforts, which include some of Google’s AI magic, to help sell its devices in the future. But the company’s longtime nemesis, Apple ( AAPL ), is just months away from releasing its own AI software that could steer Samsung users to iPhone land.
The era of AI
Samsung’s latest devices are certainly impressive. I’m a fan of both of his foldable watches, and his smartwatches are some of the most capable. The addition of its Galaxy Ring could give Samsung a good foothold in what is still a relatively small market. But the company is clearly focused on making sure its AI capabilities are front and center in each of its new products.
Samsung demonstrated how Galaxy AI fits into the Galaxy Ring, Watch 7 and Watch Ultra, thanks to the addition of the company’s new Energy Score feature. The company says the software uses Galaxy AI to help calculate how you’ve slept, how much exercise you’ve done recently and more to give you a digital representation of your overall fitness level that you can use to better understand why you may be more tired or energetic on certain days.
It also shows off its Conversation Mode feature, which lets you have a conversation with someone speaking a different language by turning the Fold and Flip covers and main screens into digital whiteboards that show what you and the person are saying, with with whom you speak your own languages. The app also reads the translated text aloud.
Samsung has similarly introduced generative AI features to its Photos app, allowing you to do things like draw sunglasses on a person in an image and automatically generate and place realistic-looking glasses on the subject’s face. Samsung is also leveraging some of Google’s AI capabilities, adding the company’s Gemini and Assistant software to its devices.
Incentive to stay and upgrade
Like Apple, which debuted its generative AI initiative Apple Intelligence at its WWDC event in June, Samsung is using AI as a means of differentiating its latest hardware offerings from its older devices in hopes that Galaxy AI and its features will attract customers who have been holding on to their phones for two years or more to look for newer, more expensive options.
Unlike Apple, which only brings its AI options to its iPhone 15 Pro and future phones, Samsung is rolling out its Galaxy AI software to a handful of previous-generation products, including the S22 and Z Fold and Flip 4 series from 2022 and the S23 and series Z Fold and Z Flip 5 from 2023
Since consumers keep their smartphones between two and three years, this makes sense. It gives users a taste of Galaxy AI at a time when they’re almost ready to upgrade, adding incentive to stick with Samsung and continue to take advantage of its AI-generating features.
The Korean tech giant says customers are already using its AI software at a decent clip, with the company reporting that 77% of S24 owners access AI features every week. And with the prospect of Samsung charging for its AI services increasing in the future, its Galaxy AI offerings could not only keep customers sticking with the company and upgrading to its latest phones, but also open up a new stream of income.
Of course, it may also depend on what Apple ultimately decides to do with its Apple Intelligence services. If Samsung charges for its AI software and Apple doesn’t, that could incentivize customers to switch to the iPhone.
Either way, both companies are entering a new race to see which one can outdo the other in terms of generative AI know-how. And while Samsung has a significant lead in getting its software to market, Apple is just months away from launching its own AI platform. Time will tell if any of the AI services are capable enough to increase sales or not.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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