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Samsung aims to regain market share with AI features

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Galaxy S25 uses Qualcomm ( QCOM ) chips, ditches Exynos

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AI features may boost Samsung brand, analyst says

By Hyunjoo Jin, Stephen Nellis

SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Samsung

Electronics ( SSNLF ) on Wednesday unveiled its newest

flagship smartphone, powered by Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) chips and

Google's artificial-intelligence model, hoping its upgraded AI

features can reinvigorate sales and fend off Apple ( AAPL ) and

Chinese rivals.

Samsung was faster than Apple ( AAPL ) in launching an AI-powered

smartphone but failed to regain its crown in the global

smartphone market last year, squeezed by stiff 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

Google, as its default AI engine and also features

Samsung's upgraded in-house voice assistant, Bixby, Park said.

The two tools are complementary to 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.

Husson added, however, that AI features could create a halo

effect around the Samsung brand.

The Galaxy S25 will 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 - will

display a suite of customized items such as calendars, news and

bedroom air temperature and carbon dioxide levels, Park said.

The phone will 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 ( QCOM ) 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 ( QCOM ) chip is a setback to the South Korean

firm's chip business, which counts its mobile division as one of

its major customers.

Samsung did not say why it decided not to use its own chips

in the new model.

A person familiar with the matter said 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," Lim Su-jeong, associate

director at research firm Counterpoint, said.

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.