Samsung aims to bolster Bixby amid consumer complaints
Samsung Electronics has brought in one of its top Silicon Valley experts to “reinforce” and refine the capabilities of its Bixby voice assistant, which has come under sustained fire from unhappy users.
Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Siri, Bixby was launched earlier this year integrated into the company’s flagship S8 mobile phone.
But while the handset received plaudits from industry watchers, the digital voice assistant did not fare so well. A swath of consumers and tech blogs rounded on the tool’s limited functionality, after a delayed launch.
“Bixby has fallen short of the market and customers’ expectation,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst from Yujin Investment & Securities. “Customers pinned their hopes on Bixby when it was released, but it seems to have failed to meet that expectation.”
On Thursday, the company appeared to acknowledge as much, saying the AI voice assistant was “still a developing process. We are working on multiple fronts to make it better.”
Part of that process involved airlifting in Eui-suk Chung, formerly a California-based innovations chief, to work alongside Injong Rhee, the head of research at Samsung’s mobile division and an individual intricately associated with the rollout of Bixby.
“Eui-suk Chung has been appointed . . . as part of efforts to enhance resources to the Bixby service,” the company said.
Samsung added Mr Rhee would maintain his role, which “covers Bixby, mobile payments, mobile health and other software services”.
Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities in Seoul, said: “The personnel reshuffle can be seen as part by Samsung’s attempt to gain an edge in artificial intelligence. They have learnt a lesson from their failure to occupy the market for operating systems.”
“Globally, the AI war is being fought between five companies: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and IBM. Samsung is scrambling to gain a foothold in this area . . . but time is ticking very fast.”
The home appliances and semiconductor maker will on Friday release quarterly guidance and many analysts expect it to again report record profits on the back of strong demand for its Dram and NAND chips.
But the company is looking further afield and has laid out a version with a strong focus on AI, autonomous driving and internet-connected home appliances.
Many analysts, however, are sceptical that Samsung has the software acumen to excel in these areas.
“Despite the market view that Samsung is weak in the software sector, the company seems to be conservative about hiring talented people and investing in R&D in the AI area,” said Shin Jin-woo, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
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