Samsung Electronics Co on Wednesday unveiled its newest Galaxy S25 smartphones, powered by Qualcomm’s chips and Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) model, hoping its upgraded AI features can reinvigorate sales and fend off Apple Inc 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 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 US rival in the premium market and with Chinese firms in the lower-end segment.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We are one step ahead of the industry in terms of offering AI features. I believe we are going in the right direction,” said Park Ji-sun, the executive vice president who leads Samsung’s Language AI team.
Samsung kept the prices of its Galaxy S25 series unchanged at between US$799 and US$1,299.
The new Galaxy S25 uses Gemini offered by Alphabet’s 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.
However, AI features could create a halo effect around the Samsung brand, Husson said.
The Galaxy S25 would offer a more personalized AI experience. For example, its “Now Brief” service — which makes recommendations to users based on personalized data that is stored and processed on the phone for privacy reasons — would display a suite of customized items such as calendars, news and bedroom air temperature and carbon dioxide levels, Park said.
The phone would be able to carry out multiple tasks with a single command, such as finding upcoming sporting events and then adding them to users’ calendars.
Samsung used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform for the entire Galaxy S25 lineup, ditching its own mobile chip Exynos, a major change of strategy for a company that previously used both to have more bargaining power with suppliers.
Using a Qualcomm chip is a setback to the South Korean firm’s chip business, which counts its mobile division as one of its major customers.
A person familiar with the matter said that Samsung is looking to use the Exynos chip in its foldable phones to be launched later this year.
“The Galaxy S25 series’ sale is important at a time when Samsung’s foldable phone sales have been stagnating in the face of challenges from Chinese companies,” said Lim Su-jeong, associate director at research firm Counterpoint.
Samsung’s preliminary fourth-quarter profit, released earlier this month, missed estimates by a large margin due to chip development costs and rising competition in the smartphone market.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective