November 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] LAS VEGAS -- Samsung’s top management on Jan. 9 defended reports on low performance and low global market share of its ambitious artificial intelligence technology Bixby during a press briefing held in Las Vegas, a day before the Consumer Electronics Show kicks off. 

During the conference, Samsung outlined its vision and strategy for intelligent Internet of Things experiences with the demonstration of its ability to make connected consumer experiences across Samsung devices at home, at the office and on-the-go. 

Samsung’s mobile chief Koh Dong-jin (left) and consumer electronics head Kim Hyun-suk have a press briefing at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Jan. 8a day before the CES kicks off. Samsung Electronics.

“We’re committed to accelerating IoT adoption for everyone and making all Samsung connected devices intelligent by 2020. These advancements will help consumers realize the benefits of a seamless and simple connected life,” said Kim Hyun-suk, head of Samsung’s consumer electronics division during the press briefing held at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

However, questions poured in from attendees over how Samsung‘s view on industry concerns of low performance and low global market share of Bixby, the technology that is centered at Samsung’s Internet of Things technologies. 

Critics have said Bixby fails to clearly understand users’ voice commands or respond to their questions. According to the US research firm Strategy Analytics, it is also predicted to reduce its market share to 5.4 percent by 2022 while its Chinese and US rivals will see theirs rise, 

“It is too early to talk about the global share of Bixby now because it just started. In human age, Bixby is just three years old. It will learn as time passes by like humans do,” said Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile business. 

Bixby was first launched in May of last year for Galaxy S8 and its English version came two months later. 

“We will apply Bixby to all of our new smart devices by 2020. Given Samsung sells around 500 million units of devices every year, Bixby can be much smarter in the future based on machine learning technologies,” Koh added. 

When asked how Samsung views other Bixby rivals, Kim Hyun-suk said, “Bixby cannot be directly compared with others because the starting point is different.”

“While most AI-powered voice recognition technologies are developed by non-hardware firms and try to be personal assistants, Bixby is more focused on integrating with devices,” Kim said, adding Samsung is far ahead in devices -- smartphones, digital devises and appliances. 

Samsung announced it will unite its IoT applications, including Samsung Connect, Smart Home, Smart View and more into the SmartThings app in the first quarter of this year to connect and control any SmartThings-enabled device directly from their phone, TV, or car from a single application. 

It also plans to connect the US in-vehicle infotainment firm Harman Ignite to the SmartThings Cloud, moving the IoT experience beyond the smart home to the car. As a result, consumers will be able to manage their connected home from the car and vice versa.

Samsung is now working with partners such as the Open Connectivity Foundation to set common industry standards. OCF is the largest IoT standardization body in the world and Samsung’s ARTIK chip, air conditioner and Family Hub refrigerator have already been certified by the association for interoperability criteria needed for IoT. 

By Shin Ji-hye/The Korea Herald (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)