TM Roh, head of Samsung's mobile business, spoke about the company's new products at the Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, France, on July 10, 2024. .
Arjun Kapoor CNBC
At a luxury hotel in central Paris, Samsung Electronics' mobile chief sat behind a range of the tech giant's latest products, from foldable smartphones to a new smart ring, underscoring how the South Korean company is bringing customers to Lock in their product world to drive sales.
TM Roh is tasked with bringing Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, into the artificial intelligence era.
Roh gave a wide-ranging interview to CNBC at the Paris hotel earlier this month, laying out Samsung's vision for Galaxy AI, its suite of artificial intelligence features, how the company is thinking about making money through software and future products such as hybrid intelligence type mobile phone.
Galaxy AI push
These include features such as Interpreter, which can translate spoken words between two people, and Notes App, which can record audio, transcribe and summarize what is said or written down.
Artificial intelligence has become a key focus for Samsung this year as it looks to boost sales of its premium phones at a time when consumers are holding on to their phones longer and are wary of spending.
“We are enhancing and bringing more artificial intelligence functions to our products. As consumers use more artificial intelligence functions, they can really feel the convenience and benefits they bring,” Lu said in Korean translation at the company Zhong told CNBC.
“I firmly believe that these Galaxy AI and mobile AI are powerful motivations and drivers for purchasing new products,” he added.
“Galaxy AI is here” is the slogan on a poster at the Galaxy Unpacked launch location – the Carrousel du Louvre, a shopping mall and event venue near Paris' famous Louvre museum.
It highlighted Samsung's marketing blitz to tell users its phones now have artificial intelligence capabilities as it looks to fend off Apple's AI push. US tech giant announces Apple Intelligence will launch in June, but the set of AI capabilities won't start rolling out until the fall and won't be available in many regions, such as China.
Still, many analysts don't expect these early AI applications to drive new phone sales alone.
Lu expects the technology to develop over the longer term.
“When you think about the first smartphones and the Internet… only a handful of people were using smartphones and the Internet. But as they progressed, as they became more advanced, they became become more common.
Artificial Intelligence Monetization
Samsung's mobile business has historically generated revenue from sales of various smartphones and other devices. This is related to appleIn addition to profiting from iPhone revenue, the company has made billions of dollars through its software and services.
That's because Samsung's phones run Google's Android operating system, which means Samsung has less control over its software and the ability to push its own apps. Meanwhile, Apple has its proprietary iOS operating system.
Apple's App Store and Google Play Store are the two main application stores for iOS and Android systems respectively.
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Roh said users typically access different software on their mobile devices through app stores. As smartphones become more intuitive, that may not always be the case for artificial intelligence on the device. This could make Samsung's apps more prominent, and Lu said the company is strengthening its own apps.
“We will improve our software and native applications. Therefore, we will provide and enhance Samsung software and applications for consumers,” Lu said.
That still doesn't answer the question of how Samsung will monetize these apps.
When asked whether Samsung would launch an artificial intelligence service subscription service, Roh Moo-hyun said the company was “listening to the opinions of the market and consumers” as well as suggestions from different experts.
“Subscription can be an option, which may mean that artificial intelligence capabilities can continue to be a core technology to attract more consumers to buy hardware. But no matter the direction, we will make smart decisions for the sake of consumers and at the same time For Samsung Mobile’s business,” Roh Moo-hyun said.
Future products for foldable and mixed reality
Samsung is one of the pioneers of foldable phones, launching the first such device in 2019.
Lu hinted that other hardware may enter the market in the future as Samsung looks to expand its product ecosystem. He said the hardware components required for foldable smartphones are improving, as is the related software.
When asked whether Samsung would introduce foldable screens to other devices such as tablets, Roh Moo-hyun said: “When the integrity of the hardware, the integrity of the software and content, and the ecosystem are fully mature, we will be forced to launch a lot of products. “A satisfying and almost perfect new foldable form factor in a new product category. “
he There was no specification as to what the new product categories for these foldable screens might be.
Mixed reality is thrust into the spotlight with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, the Cupertino giant's first foray into the category. Roh admitted that mixed reality devices are “one of the important devices that will bring new mobile experiences and new ecosystems.”
He was tight-lipped about the device, but told CNBC that Samsung will announce a new “mixed reality platform” within the year. Roh said it could be a software product, but he declined to elaborate.