Samsung and Baidu: Challenges on the Chinese Mobile Market
Samsung Electronics introduced its new flagship family, the Galaxy S24, to the Chinese market by relying on cooperation with the local search giant, Baidu. The collaboration between Samsung and Baidu aims to integrate the special services of the Chinese partner into Samsung devices. Nonetheless, experts argue that this move will not make a significant contribution to the popularity of Samsung smartphones in the Chinese market.
Strategic Collaboration with Baidu
Samsung ensures support for the chatbot Ernie from the Chinese company Baidu and the same search service, which is implemented with artificial intelligence functions, on the Galaxy S24 smartphone in the Chinese market. Many features are offered in collaboration with Baidu to emulate the Galaxy S24’s capabilities for the global market, where Samsung relies on a partnership with Google and its artificial intelligence search service, Gemini AI.
Chinese customer concerns
Samsung customers in China have voiced concerns that the features implemented in collaboration with Baidu may not function as effectively as the features offered by Google on the international version of the Galaxy S24. Chinese buyers have the opportunity to compare these two platforms when visiting Hong Kong, where the Galaxy S24 is available in both versions.
Challenges of the Big Language Model
Baidu introduced the chatbot Ernie in March last year, becoming one of the first among the world’s giants to offer an alternative to OpenAI’s chatgpt which was then increasingly popular. However, the Ernie 4.0 language model introduced in September seems to lose in its ability to GPT-4, even according to Baidu’s own representative. Currently, Huawei and Oppo have offered their big language models, increasing competition in the Chinese smartphone market.
Counterpoint Research Analyst View
Analysis of Counterpoint Research shows that support for artificial intelligence systems alone will not help Samsung strengthen its position in the Chinese smartphone market. Even so, cooperation with Baidu shows the company’s desire to develop its business in China in the long term. Although the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ in the local market are sold at higher prices than their predecessors, in the United States they are sold at the same price, and in Europe even more affordable than the Galaxy S23 model. The price difference may be more influential for Chinese buyers than the availability of additional features. Over the past ten years, Samsung’s market share in the Chinese smartphone market has fallen from 20 percent to less than 1 percent.
Conclusion
Samsung’s collaboration with Baidu opens the door to the challenge in the Chinese smartphone market. While support for artificial intelligence demonstrates long-term commitment, the challenges surrounding quality comparisons with global partners such as Google are constrained. How Samsung will respond to customer concerns and the extent to which cooperation with Baidu can help strengthen its position in this increasingly stringent market, is a question worth answering.
