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For years, the smartphone market landscape has pretty much been a battle between iOS and Android. Google’s Android platform has typically outpaced Apple’s iOS market share. This is thanks to the open-source approach which allows many companies to make their own Android phones.
To a certain extent, Apple is probably aware that they’ll never catch up to Android’s market share. It would be an impossible task anyway, as Android phones have such a huge variety, catering to different needs and more importantly, different budgets. But for the first time in a long time, Apple could be in some serious trouble with Samsung officially adopting AI features in its latest Galaxy S24 series of smartphones.
Apple and Samsung’s rivalry
Samsung is probably Apple’s biggest rival in the smartphone space, despite the fact that both companies run different hardware and software. But with Samsung adopting the use of AI, partly in thanks to their close relationship with Google, they have taken a significant leap forward.
Instead of being just about iOS versus Android, the debate will soon shift to a broader discussion of what a smartphone, regardless of platform, is truly capable of. This is because hardware for smartphones has peaked. There’s only so much improvements a new chipset or new set of cameras can make.
This means to set themselves apart from each other, smartphone makers now have to rely more than ever on the software experience, and that’s where AI comes in.
Google’s helping hand
As we have seen with the Galaxy S24, Samsung had a bit of help when it comes to AI from Google. If Google were to extend this partnership to other handset makers, it would give the Android platform a huge boost. Google is already slowly integrating AI features into its own products and services, and it is expected that they will bring some of those features to Android.
Google Assistant being integrated with Bard comes to mind. If all those AI features were to come with the base version of Android, handset makers probably don’t need to do much to reap the rewards. If that were to happen, Apple would find themselves in an awkward position. The image of them being an innovative company would be shattered.
The race is on
Thankfully, Apple isn’t sitting idly by. There have been rumors that Apple is working hard behind the scenes to start integrating AI into its own products and services, like Siri. It remains to be seen what Apple’s approach is, and more importantly, how it stacks up against the competition like Samsung, Google, and OpenAI.
Doing well in this space could also convince Android users to jump ship. Doing badly could also set Apple back years. It is a pity that the stain of Siri will forever plague the company. In some ways, Siri could be seen as Apple’s early attempts at AI, but it failed spectacularly from the get-go.
Apple has spent years and a lot of resources improving the virtual assistant, but to date, its capabilities is but a fraction of what Google Assistant and Alexa can do. The company has been notorious for not listening to its customers. Instead, more often than not, they tend to do what they think is best.
Hopefully Apple is avoiding the same pitfalls when developing their own generative AI and that they can recognize how big the stakes are. Unlike other smartphone features we’ve seen in the past, AI isn’t some trend or fad that will die out, and Apple definitely shouldn’t approach it that way.
Conclusion
We’ll admit that based on some of the flops of Apple’s own services in the past, we’re a bit apprehensive when it comes to the company’s approach to AI. On the flipside, they could surprise us all. Apple has had more than a fair share of products that were initially mocked only to become hits, so hopefully this will be one of them for the sake of the iPhone’s future.
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