At a high-level meeting that centred on the Galaxy S24's performance, Samsung chairman Lee Jae-Yong reportedly expressed his disappointment, stating the newly launched Galaxy S-series phones fall short compared to what Apple offers with the iPhone.
At Samsung's annual January 2 strategy day, executives got a dose of reality with a testimonial video that took a hard look at global market positioning and user perception of devices offered by their own Electronics division.
While making a direct comparison with Samsung's competitors, a report by Naver claims the executives were cautioned by internal feedback that said "Galaxy smartphones are more disappointing than iPhones in this regard".
Regrettably, neither the leaked report from the January 2 meeting nor the subsequent strategy dinner shed light on the aspects where Samsung thinks iPhones are better than its handsets.
Are iPhones better than Galaxy series phones?
While it is also unclear whether they were referring to the Galaxy S24 series, Lee reportedly "emphasised that the company must think from the customer's perspective" and "provide services needed by users, such as generative AI".
A local analyst claims Samsung doesn't want to fall behind in artificial intelligence (AI). "There is a great sense of crisis in Samsung that it will not be easy to recover if they fall even slightly in this fight," the analyst said.
I’m sorry, but this design is so not Samsung.
— Alvin (@sondesix) January 21, 2024
Where is the originality?
Where is Samsung’s diverse yet strong brand identity that existed several years ago?
No matter how good the Galaxy S24/S24+ is, I will never forgive Samsung for iPhonifying its flagship phones like this. pic.twitter.com/UcQeR6Qon9
As part of its attempt to be a major force in AI, Samsung execs came together and "held a discussion on the direction of AI technology and future response strategies".
This is a major sign that the Galaxy S24 series will be getting a slew of more exciting Galaxy AI features in the future. In the meantime, the Korean brand has also confirmed that it will port some of Galaxy S24's AI features to existing devices including the Galaxy S23 lineup.
The word on the street is that Samsung is also planning to up its hardware and design game, especially in the foldable phones. If rumours making the rounds online turn out to be true, Samsung will soon unveil a more affordable version of the Galaxy Fold.
Likewise, the Korean smartphone giant is reportedly trying to make the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 thinner to better compete with other smartphone makers including OnePlus, Honor, Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei and other Chinese brands.
In other words, Samsung's DX Division, DS Division and Samsung SDS departments that oversee the company's consumer electronics business are set to radically overhaul device design and software.
It is worth noting that Samsung has a reputation for making notable design changes every 2 years. The thin Galaxy Z Fold 6 may just be an indication of things to come with next year's Galaxy S25 series, which is expected to lock horns with Apple's iPhone 16.
Redefining the Galaxy image
Samsung fans are currently discovering the shortcomings in Galaxy S24's super-hyped AI features. For instance, X user Razar_the_Raven recently found that the watermark added to AI-edited photos can be removed using another AI tool.
You can easily remove Samsung's AI watermark by simply object-erasing it 🤣 pic.twitter.com/YSVTI3avKt
— Raven (@Razar_the_Raven) January 18, 2024
Meanwhile, the rumour mill has already started churning out speculations surrounding the Galaxy S25 series. According to renowned leaker Revegnus, the Galaxy S25 series will bring significant design changes.
Ilhwan Lee, formerly a designer at Mercedes-Benz and current Design Team Leader of the MX division, is focused on the task of redefining the Galaxy brand's past image to provide a fresh feel. Significant design changes are expected from the S25 onwards.
— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) December 6, 2023
The tipster claims Hubert H. Lee has been tasked with "redefining the Galaxy brand's past image," beginning with the Galaxy S25. To those unaware, Lee has been the Head of the Mobile eXperience (MX) Design Team since December 2022.
While Samsung has neither confirmed nor denied this speculation yet, it looks like the Galaxy S25 series will adopt an all-new design that could eventually trickle down to other models in the Galaxy lineup.
So, the Galaxy S24 might be the last in the flagship series to sport the now-familiar design.
