'Galaxy Unpacked 2025' Press Conference
Doubling the Target in Just One Year
Galaxy AI Basic Features to Remain Free
Tri-Fold Phone and Extended Reality Headset to Launch This Year
Z Fold7 Aims to Surpass Previous Sales
Samsung Electronics plans to expand the number of mobile devices equipped with Galaxy AI to 400 million units by the end of this year. The company also announced plans to launch a 'tri-fold phone'?a smartphone that folds twice?within the year.
Noh Taemoon, Acting President of Samsung Electronics Device Experience (DX) Division, is holding a press conference in South Korea immediately after the 'Galaxy Unpacked 2025' event held in New York, USA, on the 9th (local time). Photo by Samsung Electronics
Noh Taemoon, Acting President and Head of the Device Experience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics, stated this at a press conference held immediately after the 'Galaxy Unpacked 2025' event in New York, USA, on the 9th (local time). He said, "We will apply Galaxy AI to as many products as possible so that the maximum number of consumers can experience its benefits." By doubling the target number of Galaxy AI-equipped devices from last year's 200 million units, the company aims to lead the popularization of mobile AI.
Samsung Electronics ushered in the era of mobile AI last year with the launch of the Galaxy S24. Since then, the company has provided AI feature upgrades not only to new flagship series but also to existing models with sufficient hardware capabilities. Starting this year, the scope has been expanded to include the mid-range Galaxy A series as well.
The company's push to expand Galaxy AI is based on the belief that competitiveness in the smartphone market now depends on building an AI ecosystem. Noh said, "Galaxy AI will serve as a core platform that connects and expands the entire Galaxy ecosystem, going beyond just smartphones." He added, "As AI becomes more deeply integrated into our daily lives, the role of smartphones in accommodating it becomes even more important. This is an example of creating new value by combining AI with hardware."
Regarding the possibility of making Galaxy AI services paid starting in 2026, the company stated that it plans to maintain its free policy for the time being. Noh explained, "The basic AI features applied to Galaxy devices will continue to be provided free of charge," and added, "Since some customers want to use premium AI features from partner companies on Galaxy devices, we are currently in discussions with our partners about this." While some premium features may become paid, all other features will remain free.
With the newly released foldable phone 'Galaxy Z Fold7', which features enhanced AI capabilities, the company is determined to achieve higher sales than the previous model. Noh said, "The initial pre-order response has been positive," and added, "We expect and are aiming for better sales performance compared to last year."
Regarding the price increase of the Z Fold7, he emphasized, "Although there have been many technological innovations and increased production costs, we have internally absorbed as much of the cost increase as possible to promote the popularization of foldable phones."
On the launch of the 'tri-fold phone', a smartphone that folds twice, he said, "We are currently working to further improve the completeness of the tri-fold phone," and added, "We expect to launch the product within this year." He also mentioned that the product name will be decided soon.
He also revealed that the company is preparing to launch an extended reality (XR) headset, developed in collaboration with Google under the project name 'Muhan', with a target release within this year.
Regarding the smartphone business performance in the second quarter, he said, "Although this is traditionally a period with a relatively weak new product effect, preliminary results show solid performance compared to the same period last year." He added, "In the second half of the year, we expect to continue year-over-year growth through the launches of the Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, as well as the expanded application of AI to the A series."
On the company's strategy to respond to the US tariff increase policy, Noh said, "Samsung is prepared to respond quickly to changes in trade policies or market environments in major countries through its various global production bases." He emphasized, "Our goal is to secure supply competitiveness equal to or greater than our competitors, based on Samsung's global operational capabilities."
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