Tantra Analyst

Samsung Mobile had a launch event for Fan Edition (FE) versions of this year’s Galaxy phone, watch, and flagship Tablets on Sep 25^th, 2024, in New York, at its Manhattan office. I was one of the select industry analysts invited to the event. The theme “Galaxy Al for All” was apt for the event, as all the devices announced had Galaxy AI support, including the first-ever AI-enabled Galaxy tab.

The most noteworthy devices were the Galaxy Tabs, not because of their AI function but because of the SoC that powered them—MediaTek Dimensity 9300+. This marks MediaTek’s entry into the premium device category in the US. As expected, all the FE devices were powered by Samsung’s own Exynos SoCs.

Here is the full list of announced devices and their salient features:

Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra / S10+

• Display: Dynamic AMOLED 2x (120Hz)

• Display Size: 14.6in / 12.4in

• Memory: Up to 16 GB RAM + 1TB / Up to 12GB RAM + 512GB

• Battery: 11,200 mAh / 10,009 mAh

• Wi-Fi 6E (S10+ has 5G option)

• SoC: MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ (MT6989)

(Octacore: 4 x 3.25GHz + 4 x 2GHz)

• Full suite of Galaxy AI tools

Galaxy S24 FE

• Display: Dynamic AMOLED 2x (60/120Hz)

• Display size: 6.7-inch FHD+

• Cameras: 12MP Ultra Wide + 50MP Wide + 9MP Telephoto + 10MP Front

• Battery: 4700 mAh

• SoC: Exynos 2400e

• Full suite of Galaxy AI tools

Galaxy Watch FE LTE

• Cellular connectivity for call and text

• Upgrade to the existing version

After the event, the demo space was opened, which had ample new devices, as well as recently announced devices to check out and experience. More importantly, the key Samsung product managers responsible for the announced products were also available for discussion and Q&A. This was very helpful, as Samsung didn’t do any pre-briefings for this announcement.

Tantra’s take:

This was a short and very productive event, without much fanfare. “AI for all” has been a common theme these days, where all companies are trying to bring AI to all types and tiers of devices. Interestingly, AI capability seems to be the same or similar across tiers. This is to encourage and stimulate AI usage, not use it as a tiering mechanism. It makes perfect sense now, but I am sure, as the AI usage picks up, those capabilities will also be tiered.

As evident from the recent consumer feedback, there hasn’t been an AI “device upgrade super cycle” that many were expecting. In my view, that is because, unlike hardware features like an upgraded camera or faster modem, the benefits of many AI features are more subtle. Users will not see an immediate, observable step-up in experience when these AI features are enabled. For example, things like circle-to-search, sketch-to-image, magic erasure, magic fill, etc., are not used on an everyday basis. But when they do use them, it feels like magic. So, these will gradually grow on people, and at some point, they become something that they can’t live without.

So, in my view, instead of users running now to stores to buy new devices for these AI features, it will be more like demanding them when buying future devices. They would even be open for newer, more upgraded features.

Other features like instant translation and live captioning might be useful for select people working with content in different languages, dealing with people from different countries, or even of different generations. Samsung mentioned that some of these are the most used AI features on its phones, even in the USA.

As mentioned, the SoCs powering these devices is definitely noteworthy. The FE devices were powered by Samsung Exynos SoCs.  However, Galaxy S10 series tablets being powered by MediaTek SoC was a major development.  MediaTek, till now, has been mostly supplying SoCs to the mid and lower their devices in the USA, for example, Samsung’s A-series phones. But it seems it has shattered that glass ceiling and entered the premium club. This is even more interesting considering that Tab S10+ also has a 5G version with a supposedly MediaTek-integrated modem. With all the rumors about the S25 flying around, it seems like next year’s Samsung Unpacked, which usually happens in the first quarter, will be very interesting to look forward to.

During the presentation, Samsung shared an important factoid: “1 in 4 households in the US have at least 3 Samsung devices.” This is a big opportunity for Samsung to offer a differentiated and unique “Samsung experience” for its loyal customers. This will not only reward them for their loyalty but also develop a higher affinity and stickiness for Samsung’s products and services.

Samsung could implement a thin middle layer on all its products so that they can automatically recognize other Samsung products when in the vicinity or on a common network. This can be utilized to offer the Samsung-to-Samsung experience that will be far better and more integrated than any other combination. For example, if a user has a Samsung phone, laptop, and watch, all the devices should go to silent mode if he/she joins a conference on the laptop. Similarly, notifications are shown on the watch only when it is worn and away from the phone/laptop. Also, if the user is working on the laptop, he/she shouldn’t get notifications of a new email/message on the phone kept near the laptop. These are simple use cases, but the possibilities are endless with AI. I strongly suggest Samsung invest in such use cases and fully exploit the opportunity.

Prakash Sangam is the founder and principal at Tantra Analyst, a leading boutique research and advisory firm. He is a recognized expert in 5G, Wi-Fi, AI, Cloud and IoT. To read articles like this and get an up-to-date analysis of the latest mobile and tech industry news, sign-up for our monthly newsletter at TantraAnalyst.com/Newsletter, or listen to our Tantra’s Mantra podcast.