Samsung has just launched its new Galaxy S24 range, a generation of phones that very completely integrates features only possible with artificial intelligence (Galaxy AI), such as simultaneous translation in conversations, chats and spectacular improvements in photography and services such as searches. David Alonso, director of Samsung’s Mobility Business in Spain and Portugal, highlights that the new mobile phones will make the lives of their users easier in a simple way.
What has been the public response to the launch of the Galaxy S24 range?
First impressions are very good, both from the media, social networks and customers. We are very happy. All the media information has been impressive and the response from the end consumer, although it is too early to evaluate it, the first sensations we are having are very good, even above what we expected. The acceptance has been impressive. There were many expectations and it seems that a reason has been given, something really different, that we are at the beginning of something different.
It is true that this launch, with artificial intelligence highly integrated into the Samsung Galaxy S24, seems like a paradigm shift. Are we at the beginning of a new era for telephony?
We are convinced of this. There has been a lot of talk about generative artificial intelligence and I think this is the first time that, seriously, the main leitmotif of a mobile phone is artificial intelligence. Also, applied to things we do every day. I think we got the what and the how right. AI (Galaxy AI) is very well integrated into the mobile phone use experience.
Before getting into AI, in the announcement of the new Galaxy S24 range there was an announcement that breaks one of the stigmas of Android, the fact that Samsung guarantees seven years of updates.
It is something that has been little talked about but is very relevant. It also links a lot with our commitment to making sustainable innovation. We guarantee seven years of updates. The life of the mobile phone is increasing and it is very important that we accompany this message of sustainable innovation with realities. There is a part that is the use of recycled materials, for example, but giving the user tools and arguments that we are talking about a mobile that will last a while entails a guarantee that during that time they will have full access to all the updates to the operating system, which in the end is the heart of the device. It is a very important part that has been a little hidden with what Galaxy AI is, and I am very happy that you comment on it, because it is something very important and is very in line with the policy that we want to follow in terms of sustainability and support for the users.
Let’s get to AI. Its use on the Galaxy S24 is very intuitive. The user interface seems very careful to make everything very simple.
That’s key. Technology for technology’s sake is meaningless. If the user is not able to use it because it is difficult to access and integrate it into the daily routine, it may be very good, but it will not be used. One of the objectives of the Samsung Galaxy S24 is to achieve a user experience that is very easily integrated into daily use. In the case of the chat assistant, for example, it is integrated into the keyboard, which is what we use, it is not in each and every one of the applications but in a common element, which in the end is the one we are going to use. The integration of simultaneous translation, simply by pressing a button and without requiring both devices to be a Galaxy S24, is also a very good user experience. Yet we have tried to do the same. That everything is easy, that it adds value and that it improves the use of mobile phones and, in the end, our lives, is our priority.
Doesn’t the fact that there is so much talk about artificial intelligence also hide the premium-level hardware that the Galaxy S24 Ultra has, such as the titanium bezels, the cameras or the chip itself that manages the mobile?
In the end, hardware is a support for an excellent user experience. That it has a megaprocessor, that the screen is impressive and that the camera is spectacular are still support tools to make the experience impressive, which is what is intended. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is our top of the range, in which we always implement the best possible hardware, the best on the market and the best features, but without that being true, the important thing is to highlight precisely that in the end everything is a support so that the user has the best possible experience with Samsung. Because in the end, it is true that we are talking about products aimed at 100% of the population, at all audiences. And there are more ‘techies’ and less; There are those who understand more about hardware and those who don’t. The message that must be transmitted has to be valid for everyone. Obviously, we communicate all the technical specifications of our products, which are spectacular, as they say, but they continue to be a support for the rest.
For many years, when talking about new mobile phones, practically nothing was talked about other than photography, and this time, when it can also be done, it seems that it has been left in the background. It is another groundbreaking element of the S24.
The photography is spectacular. Everything we are talking about artificial intelligence also applies to the camera and image editing. For us, who not only want to highlight the camera, which until now was one of the reasons why consumers changed mobile phones, I think we are finally giving a reason to change devices. Until now, you wanted to change because you had a better camera, or a better processor, or more memory, or because the screen is better. The user experience was improving day by day, but there was no groundbreaking change, something that means the beginning of something new. Galaxy AI also applies to the camera. It is one of the main elements. One of the great improvements that artificial intelligence achieves in the S24 family is the camera as well.
Is the premium market growing in Spain?
The trend in Spain at the beginning of the year is the same as what we were seeing last year. We are seeing growth in the premium range and especially in the ultra-premium range, of devices over 1,000 euros, while below 600 euros, the lowest ranges, continues a decreasing trend. For us, I think it is good because of the positioning of Samsung products, that in the end we want to offer the best quality, the best user experience and the best features. It fits with our strategy and what we are offering. The launch of the Galaxy S24 family comes at a good time in the market and gives a reason to change and continue with this trend. The combination is perfect.
Half a year later, Samsung launches a premium line that is foldable, which perhaps has the widest range in this market segment.
Innovation is within our DNA. We are now on the fifth generation of folding mobile phones. It is a category that is consolidating in the market, which is growing double figures, and the main sign is that our competitors are following us. It is good news that other brands have launched foldable devices. For us it means that we are doing something right. We are creating new categories that are being accepted by the consumer and the most obvious proof is that the competition follows us, which is good, because that energizes the market, makes us improve by offering better products and services to our customers.
If you found a person browsing a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in a store and you wanted to convince them to purchase it, what would you explain to them?
Basically, it is a phone that will make your life easier. I would not talk about innovation or artificial intelligence. For me, the important thing is that it improves the user experience in this person’s daily use of the mobile phone. It makes everything better. In photographs, which is surely one of the main uses that it will give it. Eliminating the language barrier, because you can have real-time conversations with a person who speaks a language other than yours in real time and understanding each other. Because it also breaks that language barrier by chatting, for example with WhatsApp. It will improve and make photographs and videos much better. You will be able to improve the searches you do on the Internet, simply by surrounding the object that interests you and obtaining all the information you want about it. It will improve the way you can take notes, so that your phone can not only record conversations, but you can transcribe them, sort them and summarize them. In short, this device is going to make your life easier, improving the daily routines in which you normally use your cell phone and even adding some in which until now you did not think the phone would be useful.
Some of those things are going to make life easier for us journalists…
In addition to all that, I would add, that for us it is also very important, that we are doing all this in an open way, collaborating with partners, we are not trying to lock the user into a Samsung-only experience, but we are collaborating with companies like Google or Microsoft; that we are doing it in a sustainable way, with the use of sustainable materials; in an inclusive way, with facilitating use for people with some type of disability and, of course, in a safe way, because speaking of artificial intelligence, one of the fears that we all have is that a lot of data is shared, and we We can give you the peace of mind of our Knox platform, which is applied one hundred percent in this range.
