An interview with Samsung's mobile chief TM Roh on the Galaxy AI push, monetizing AI, future products in foldables and mixed reality, and more
In a swanky downtown Paris hotel, Samsung Electronics' mobile boss sat behind a suite of the tech giant's latest products, ranging from foldable smartphones …
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung's mobile strategy has long paired new device formats with software-platform ambitions: before Roh led the division, Samsung was already preparing to disclose a foldable phone and open Bixby to outside developers in its earlier foldable-and-assistant expansion. This interview places Galaxy AI alongside that continuing foldables roadmap rather than treating AI as a standalone product category.
The company is also approaching AI across its hardware stack, even as prior coverage questioned whether its chip efforts could make it indispensable in generative AI. Roh's focus on monetization, foldables and mixed reality makes the key issue less whether Samsung can ship AI features than how it turns its installed device base into a durable AI business.
First-order effects
- Samsung is positioning Galaxy AI as a product and services initiative that can be monetized across its device lineup, while keeping foldables and mixed reality on its forward product roadmap.
- Roh's agenda ties the mobile division's near-term differentiation to AI-enabled experiences, not hardware form factors alone.
Second-order effects
- Rivals in premium mobile hardware face pressure to pair on-device AI capabilities with clearer service or feature economics; Qualcomm had already framed generative AI as moving from cloud infrastructure into mobile devices.
- Samsung's component, software and content partners gain incentives to support AI features across more device types, but the commercial value depends on whether those features become repeat-use services rather than launch-cycle marketing.
Third-order effects
- If handset makers can monetize AI beyond one-time hardware sales, smartphone competition may shift toward control of AI distribution, partner access and cross-device user experiences.
- The combination of AI, foldables and mixed reality points to a broader contest over which personal-device form factors can sustain new software revenue; adoption and pricing remain unresolved.
The trend: Consumer-device makers are using AI to turn mature hardware ecosystems into multi-device service and distribution platforms.