You wouldn’t expect a mobile phone executive to want people to spend less time on screens, but we are living in strange times. If all goes well with Samsung’s big AI phone push, that’s exactly what the tech giant hopes will happen.
In an interview with GadgetGuy, Eric Chou, Samsung Australia’s Head of Mobile Experience, shared the self-labelled “counterintuitive” sentiment coming from a global phone brand.
“We recognise that people are now spending a lot more time glued to their screen,” Chou said. “This obviously is becoming a bit of an issue where everyone’s now talking about everyone spending too much time on their screens and less time with each other.”
As seen in Samsung’s recent advertising of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the goal is to use AI to handle multiple requests simultaneously. Instead of swiping between multiple different apps, the company’s vision is, as Chou puts it, to make devices that are “able to intuitively know what you’re doing and be able to help you”.
This ethos is most evident through Samsung’s new “AI Select” feature. Part of the One UI 7 operating system upgrade, it’s designed to automatically recognise context-specific tasks based on what’s visible on-screen. Samsung uses the example of translating text on a festival poster, which the AI assistant can do, in addition to adding calendar details and saving the image from the same screen.
Aussies love Galaxy AI translation
Backing up what Chou said in a 2024 interview, Samsung’s set of Galaxy AI features has a fairly high adoption rate. The company’s internal data indicates that around 80% of Australians with a flagship Galaxy device use at least one of the features every month.
Part of this can be attributed to Samsung’s ubiquitous approach to AI. It doesn’t want users to think about opening a separate app or whether something is “AI” or not. Instead, the company’s mission is to seamlessly integrate these features throughout devices.
Google’s Circle to Search tool remains one of the most popular recent features, while Chou mentioned the popularity of Samsung’s on-device translation features “given a very big population of Australians who speak a second language, and they have families overseas”.
“We also find that those who use [the translation features], use it more than 10 times a day,” Chou said. “It’s one of those things where we say that it’s now becoming quite an integral part of their daily lives, and it’s a feature they now can no longer live without.”
It’s also worth noting that while Samsung currently has “no plans” to put Galaxy AI behind a paywall, some third-party features might cost money after 2025.
Camera remains king
With how saturated the banner of AI has become in recent years, is it something customers actually look for when buying a phone? According to Samsung, it’s gaining ground as a purchasing factor, but camera quality is still the number one feature people look for.
“Over the past 10 years, when you actually consider an upgrade to mobile, the number one consideration is ‘does that phone also have a great camera?'” Chou said. “However, what we’re actually seeing is that over time, especially in the last 12 months, more of that consideration factor is also now shifting towards AI.”
“What we also find is that just talking about AI for AI’s sake is not necessarily what’s going to help people make that decision.”
Ironically, the more money people spend on a phone, the sooner they’re likely to upgrade when a new model arrives. According to Chou, the trend of 36-month phone contracts has extended the time users hold onto handsets. However, those who choose an Ultra model usually upgrade within two years, a shorter timespan than other phones.
“Every time there is a meaningful innovation that comes out, consumers – especially those who are considering having the best technology – tend to have a very strong willingness to upgrade,” Chou said.
“As opposed to, for example, the [Galaxy] A-series, people buy more for the utility. They’re the ones who tend to hold on to their devices for a lot longer.”
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