Samsung expands AI centers to the U.K., Canada, and Russia

Like every other tech giant out there, Samsung has been investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Samsung Research, the R&D hub of Samsung Electronics, has been overseeing the expansion of the AI research capabilities of the company. As part of the efforts, Samsung Research set up AI centers in Seoul last November and in Silicon Valley in January this year.

The company is now adding three more to the list with new AI centers that will open in Cambridge (May 22), Toronto (May 24), and Moscow (May 29). Apart from creating cutting-edge research environments, Samsung Research also plans to expand the number of AI researchers globally to 1,000 by 2020.

Samsung’s AI research focuses on five core aspects

The AI center in Cambridge will be led by Andrew Blake,  “a pioneer in the development of the theory and algorithms that can make it possible for computers to behave as seeing machines.” The center in Toronto will be led by Dr. Larry Heck who is an expert in virtual assistant technologies and is also a Senior VP of Samsung Research America.

Samsung has not announced who will lead the AI center in Moscow but has stated that AI experts such as Professor Dmitry Vetrov (Higher School of Economics) and Professor Victor Lempitsky (Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) will be part of it.

Samsung says its AI research focuses on five core aspects: AI that is user-centric, always learning, always there, always helpful, and always safe. The work at these AI centers will focus on these core aspects.  Samsung has ambitious plans for IoT in the coming years. By embedding AI into a vast array of IoT devices, the company hopes to offer personalized and intelligent services to its users.

“Samsung has a long history of pursuing innovation and we are excited to be bringing that same passion and technology leadership to AI,” said Hyun-suk Kim, President and Head of Samsung Research at the opening ceremony of the new AI Center in Cambridge.

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Samsung clocks $5 billion in revenue from mobile sales in India

Samsung has lost its way completely in the Chinese smartphone market with its market share dropping below 1% recently. It’s a huge setback for Samsung given that China is the largest smartphone market in the world. However, in the second largest smartphone market, India, Samsung continues to be a dominant force, despite formidable challenges from the Chinese brands.

To counter the intense competition from rivals, Samsung recently launched the Galaxy J8, Galaxy J6, Galaxy A6, and A6+ in India. Speaking to reporters at the launch of the new models, Sumit Walia, Director, Samsung India, offered some interesting insights into Samsung’s performance in the country,

Samsung claims it has 40% value market share

Starting with the revenues, Samsung grew at 27% and clocked $5 billion in mobile sales in India for the fiscal ending 2017. The company ended Q1 2018 with 40% value market share and 37% volume market share in the country. With the launch of the new models, the company is expecting a 5% gain in market share.

The official also said that all the products sold in India are manufactured locally at a plant in Noida. The company is expanding the facility to manufacture 120 million phones annually by 2020.  Samsung is planning to make India into its manufacturing hub and export to other markets from there. The combination of local manufacturing and higher production should help Samsung to price its smartphones more aggressively in the Indian market.

The market share numbers quoted by Samsung contradict numerous market research reports which show Xiaomi overtaking Samsung in the recent quarters. We don’t know if Samsung is cherry-picking reports to assert its dominance, or that others are exaggerating the rapid growth of the Chinese brands in the country. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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[Poll] Would you buy the Galaxy S Light Luxury (Galaxy S8 Lite) if launched globally?

The much rumored Galaxy S8 Lite was launched as the Galaxy S Light Luxury by Samsung yesterday. As expected, this handset has only been launched for customers in China but there is some interest from Samsung fans to see a wider release of this device.

The Galaxy S Light Luxury is basically a premium mid-range smartphone in a flagship’s body. It looks almost identical to the Galaxy S8 which isn’t a bad thing given that last year’s flagship won a lot of praise for its innovative design. It touts a 5.8-inch 18.5:9 aspect ratio Infinity Display.

Aside from its 16-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras, the device also features IP68 water and dust resistance, 4G LTE, Samsung Pay, wireless charging and more. The main internal difference is that of the processor. This watered-down version of the Galaxy S8 ships with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The handset also features a 3,000mAh battery and ships with Oreo.

Samsung is going to charge ¥3999 for the Galaxy S Light Luxury in China which is around $625. That’s in the range of what Samsung is charging for some of its recent premium mid-range smartphones so one can argue that the device will likely see considerable sales should it be launched globally. It’s pertinent to mention here that there’s no confirmation as yet from the company concerning a global launch of this device.

If Samsung did launch the Galaxy S Light Luxury in your market, would be willing to purchase it? Answer in the poll below and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

Would you buy the Galaxy S Light Luxury (Galaxy S8 Lite) if launched globally?

• Not really, doesn't appeal to me at all
• Will depend on the price and incentives offered
• Definitely

Results

• Not really, doesn't appeal to me at all 60%, 3 votes
  3 votes 60%

  3 votes - 60% of all votes
• Will depend on the price and incentives offered 40%, 2 votes
  2 votes 40%

  2 votes - 40% of all votes
• Definitely 0%, 0 votes
  0 votes

  0 votes - 0% of all votes

Total Votes: 5

22 May 2018

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You or your IP had already vote.

• Not really, doesn't appeal to me at all
• Will depend on the price and incentives offered
• Definitely

×

You or your IP had already vote.

Results

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