Jakarta – SellCell, a platform for selling used mobile phones, conducted a survey of over 2,000 Samsung and Apple device users in the United States. The results indicated that people are less concerned with AI-powered features on their devices.
The survey was conducted only with users of the Galaxy S22 series and above, as well as iPhone 15 Pro and above, as these are the models that integrate AI functions in Samsung and Apple devices.
The survey showed that 73% of iPhone users and 87% of Galaxy phone users have not seen a significant added value from the AI features on their devices.
AI technology also does not seem to be a major deciding factor when it comes to switching operating systems. 16.8% of iPhone users said they would switch to a Galaxy phone running Android for AI features. On the other hand, only 9.7% of Galaxy phone users would consider switching to the Apple ecosystem. Phone makers are hoping to start monetizing AI features at some point in the future.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite is said to be free until the end of 2025. However, no details have been provided regarding the cost Samsung will charge to maintain these features.
Meanwhile, Apple has not publicly stated its intention to charge for Apple Intelligence. However, analysts predict that the Cupertino giant could charge up to USD 20 per month in the future.
Despite this, the majority of surveyed users do not seem willing to pay a monthly fee for AI features on their smartphones. A total of 86.5% and 94.5% of iPhone and Galaxy device owners, respectively, stated that they would not pay to retain these features.
The Galaxy S25 series includes six months of Gemini Advanced, a paid tier for Google’s AI features. Google may believe that offering the best of its AI suite during this period will convince users to pay the USD 20 monthly fee.
Interestingly, many iPhone users consider the presence of AI to be important when switching phones. 47.6% of Apple device owners said this was a factor they would consider when upgrading to a newer model.
This contrasts with the number of people who don’t see much benefit in artificial intelligence on smartphones. They seem to want the features but do not actively use them.
However, the results do not reflect the bigger picture. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular among smartphone users. For a long time, ChatGPT was the most downloaded free app on the Apple App Store. This year, OpenAI’s product was dethroned by DeepSeek, another AI-powered chatbot.
Additionally, last year, the Pixel 9 series achieved its highest quarterly sales since launch. As you may already know, Pixel phones have strong AI integration.
So, the apparent apathy among users towards AI seems to be directed at the specific AI features offered exclusively by Samsung and Apple. Both companies should take this as a message that they need to up their game if they want to turn their AI suite into a major selling point, especially if they plan to charge for it later.
