Samsung might be the top smartphone manufacturer in leading markets across the globe but its market share in China remains less than 1%. There was a time when the company commanded a respectable position in the Chinese market but that has long eroded, largely due to intense competition from the local manufacturers.
The company has been trying to revive its fortunes in China. It's not betting big on Galaxy AI to help reclaim that lost glory. To that end, Samsung is working on a China-specific version of Galaxy AI to better appeal to the local market.
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China's AI landscape may prove a tough nut to crack for Samsung
“We are especially developing and we are going to especially develop our Galaxy AI capabilities for that market,” Samsung's mobile boss TM Roh told CNBC, adding that “I believe by making efforts to create mobile AI for China, mobile AI that can satisfy that will be wanted by the Chinese consumers, by advancing this technology that will contribute to the recovery we’re going to have in the Chinese market.”
Samsung began implementing this strategy with the Galaxy S24 launch in China earlier this year, where the company teamed up with local giant Baidu to power Galaxy AI features in the country. Baidu's Ernie chatbot has been integrated with the Galaxy S24 series as well. However, there's reason to believe that Baidu's capabilities may instead of holding back Galaxy AI in China.
The company would most certainly need to work with other local partners to expand the Galaxy AI capabilities, as there are strict regulations around the technology in China and foreign companies like Samsung have to abide by them. That's what necessitated the partnership with Baidu in the first place.
It's easier said than done, though. Local behemoths like Huawei and Xiaomi have developed their own AI solutions, so Samsung needs to offer something truly differentiating to entice people to buy Samsung phones, because its brand equity alone is far from being convincing enough.
Roh admits that competition in China is “more heated than anywhere else,” and that Samsung's strategy now is to bring premium devices to market while also expanding distribution and retail sales channels. “Currently, although piecemeal, but we are making progress step by step, we are putting together our efforts to create the products and features that will be wanted by the consumers and that can satisfy the consumers out there,” he said.
