Samsung 800M AI Devices 2026 | Gemini Integration Strategy

Samsung Wants to Put AI in 800 Million Devices This Year

Samsung just announced one of the most aggressive AI pushes in consumer electronics history: 800 million AI-powered devices in 2026. That's double what they shipped last year, and it's all part of a plan to reclaim the smartphone crown from Apple.

The Korean tech giant is betting big on Google's Gemini AI, integrating it across smartphones, tablets, wearables, and even home appliances. It's a direct challenge to Apple, who according to market researcher Counterpoint, became the top smartphone maker last year despite Samsung leading in total volume.

Here's Samsung's strategy: offer AI features that work across your entire tech ecosystem, not just your phone. Your Galaxy phone talks to your Galaxy Watch, which talks to your TV, which talks to your refrigerator. Everything connected, everything smart, everything running AI.

The company is positioning this as an open ecosystem play—unlike Apple's closed approach, Samsung's AI features work with Google services, third-party apps, and even competitor devices in some cases. It's the same argument Samsung has made for years about Android versus iOS, but now with AI as the selling point.

What does this mean for everyday users? Samsung's AI features already include:

• Real-time translation during phone calls

• AI photo editing that can remove objects or change backgrounds

• Smart suggestions for calendar events and reminders based on your messages

• Voice assistants that actually understand context instead of just responding to keywords

• Camera features that automatically optimize settings for whatever you're photographing

The interesting part is that many users don't realize they're already using AI. A Samsung survey found that 42% of people didn't know weather alerts use AI, 35% didn't know call screening was AI-powered, and 34% didn't realize autocorrect involves AI. Samsung is banking on making AI invisible—it just works without you thinking about it.

The Competitive Landscape:

Samsung isn't alone in this AI arms race. Apple is rumored to be bringing more AI features to iOS this year. Google obviously has an advantage with Gemini since they built it. Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are all pushing their own AI features too.

But Samsung has scale. 800 million devices means they can collect massive amounts of data about how people actually use AI features in the real world, which helps them improve those features faster than competitors with smaller user bases.

The Privacy Question:

All this AI integration raises questions about data privacy. Samsung says much of the processing happens on-device rather than in the cloud, which is better for privacy and works even without an internet connection. But features that use Gemini necessarily send data to Google's servers, and not everyone is comfortable with that.

What This Costs:

Samsung hasn't announced price changes, but integrating AI across 800 million devices isn't cheap. The memory shortage we mentioned earlier affects Samsung too, and AI features require more powerful processors and more RAM. That cost gets passed to consumers somehow—either through higher prices or through Samsung eating the cost to maintain market share.

Will It Work?

Samsung's challenge is convincing people they need AI in everything. Do you really need your refrigerator running AI? Does your TV need to predict what you want to watch? Or is this a case of technology companies pushing features that look good in presentations but don't solve real problems?

The answer probably depends on execution. If Samsung's AI features genuinely make daily tasks easier—and do it without feeling intrusive or creepy—people will use them. If it feels like AI for AI's sake, it'll join the long list of smartphone features that sounded cool but nobody actually uses.

The Bottom Line:

Samsung is making a $800 million device bet that AI is the next major battleground in consumer electronics. They're probably right about that. Whether they execute well enough to beat Apple is another question entirely.

One thing is certain: by the end of 2026, you won't be able to buy a Samsung device without AI features. Whether you want them or not.