Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab on Wednesday unveiled its newest Galaxy S25 smartphones, powered by Qualcomm’s chips and Google’s artificial-intelligence model, hoping its upgraded AI features can reinvigorate sales and fend off Apple and Chinese rivals.
Samsung also previewed a thinner version of the flagship models at the end of an event in California, aiming to launch the Galaxy S25 Edge in the first half of this year ahead of Apple’s (AAPL.O), opens new tab anticipated rollout of its slimmer iPhone.
Samsung was faster than Apple in launching an AI-powered smartphone but failed to regain its crown in the global smartphone market last year, squeezed by competition with the U.S. rival in the premium market and with Chinese firms in the lower-end segment.
“We are one step ahead of the industry in terms of offering AI features. I believe we are going in the right direction,” Park Ji-sun, the executive vice president who leads Samsung’s Language AI team, told Reuters.
Samsung kept the prices of its Galaxy S25 series unchanged at between $799 and $1,299.
The new Galaxy S25 uses Gemini offered by Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google as its default AI engine, and features Samsung’s upgraded in-house voice assistant, Bixby, Park said.
The two tools complement each other, and Bixby plays a key role at Samsung, whose products span mobile phones to TVs and home appliances, he said.
Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester, said that differentiating Bixby would be a challenge for Samsung.
“I don’t think there is really a killer application today that you know would convince them (consumers), ‘OK, I’m going to buy this one because it’s an AI smartphone,'” he said.
Item 1 of 6 People take pictures of the Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 winter event in San Jose, California, U.S., January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Laure Andrillon
[1/6]People take pictures of the Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 winter event in San Jose, California, U.S., January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Laure Andrillon Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
