SAMSUNG

Galaxy S24 Special Offers Will Accelerate AI Advantage

Samsung has been aggressively marketing the Galaxy S24 range of smartphones since its launch in late January 2024. In addition to extensive online and print marketing, keen watchers of the South Korean company have noted an increase in special offers, discounts, and bundled offers for the three flagship Galaxy models.

The 2024 Galaxy S24 family has been more successful than the 2023 Galaxy S23. Counterpoint Research stated that global sales increased by eight percent, but in several territories—including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany—sales rose by 28 percent; US sales climbed 14 percent, and sales in its home country of South Korea increased by 22 percent… territories where Samsung’s offers have been particularly valuable.

Since the launch, Samsung has posted several special offers all designed to push the S24 handsets to consumers. During the launch window, Samsung offered exclusive colors for pre-orders, a free upgrade to the next tier of storage when buying from Samsung’s website, vouchers for a free set of Galaxy Buds and discounts on Galaxy Wear smartwatches.

Generous trade-in offers can be found through various retailers and network providers. With almost no effort, you can find a $150 trade-in value when purchasing a new Galaxy, and Samsung’s own website will offer up to $750 on selected models, while some networks will go as high as $1000.

Bundle offers are also available, such as a free Galaxy S24 or S24 Plus when purchasing a new Neo QLED television. a free Galaxy Tab S6 Lite when purchasing an S24 handset or a twelve-month subscription to the Disney+ streaming service.

Any manufacturer in the consumer tech space aims for market share, but this year’s flagship smartphones will offer a rare opportunity. This is the first year smartphones are being specifically pushed with artificial intelligence. The AI smartphones that dominate sales will dominate and shape the conversation around AI on smartphones.

Samsung has invested heavily in Galaxy AI. It’s visible in much of its marketing, and it took up the lion’s share of the presentation time at January’s Galaxy Unpacked event. It might not be the first smartphone to launch as an "AI Smartphone”, but it has become the best-selling smartphone, and that carries a lot of weight in the community.

As an aside, Google’s Pixel and Pixel 8 Pro handsets were pitched as the first AI smartphones, but its three percent market share in North America is dwarfed by Samsung’s sixteen percent during Q4 of 2023, the quarter before the S24 launch. Google may have captured the attention of the digerati, but it is Samsung that has caught the consumer's attention.

In the market share charts, you will invariably find Apple and its totemic iPhone alongside Samsung. Google effectively started the push towards AI in smartphones as a desirable addition… two weeks after the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro went on sale. Apple has been caught out by this, but with an annual launch cycle, it will only be able to get into the AI smartphone game in September this year (although it is likely to announce how its AI will work in June’s Worldwide Developer Conference).

Until then, Samsung has months of “free space” to be seen as the number one AI smartphone on sale. It can shape the conversation and establish the parameters of mobile AI. That halo effect will boost the entire brand as consumer technology anoints AI as the next big thing while the rest of the brand is being used to boost sales of the Galaxy S24 family.

Samsung’s special offers present themselves as value for money for customers, perhaps less so for Samsung in the short term. These aggressive choices suggest that the South Korean company knows it can find long-term value in these deals.

Ewan Spence