Movin’ on Down

Movin’ on Down
​

​In a week or so Samsung (005930.KS) is expected to release the Galaxy A17 smartphone, a mid to low-end smartphone that is part of the ‘A’ series that is Samsung’s best-selling line based on unit volume.  What is going to set this year’s release apart from previous years is that the A17 will be AI equipped, making it Samsung’s lowest priced AI smartphone at between $200 and $300 depending on the configuration.  The phone will not come with all of the AI features in the Galaxy S Series flagship models, however some features have already been confirmed.

• Circle-to-search – This feature allows the user to circle or highlight on an image or text to instigate a Google search without having to switch applications.
• Gemini Integration – Gemini is expected to act as a digital assistant that will assist in note-taking and providing quick information.
• Cross Application Functionality – While the details of this AI ability are not completely clear, the idea is that the AI can work across a number of applications.  The example might be using the Ai to summarize content from a webpage and saving it to a note application.  The AI would take care of the necessary formatting without the user having to open each application.

There will likely be other AI enhanced applications, but the fact that the A17 will be based on Samsung’s own Exynos 1330 processor and run on 1 UI 7 (Android 15) allows Samsung to add these and potentially other AI features, despite the relatively low price of the phones.  While we expect some AI features will remain part of the flagship line, the fact that AI has now moved down to budget smartphone level at the same price as previous models answers the question, “Will consumers pay extra for AI?”  The answer is they don’t have to because it is included for free.