- Samsung plans to double the number of AI-enabled devices running Google’s Gemini from 400 million at end of 2025 to 800 million by end of 2026.
- Samsung co-CEO TM Roh confirmed the target at CES 2026, describing a “Connect Future” vision that embeds AI into smartphones, tablets, TVs, and home appliances.
- Consumer awareness of Samsung’s “Galaxy AI” branding rose from 30% to 80% in one year, according to Samsung’s internal data.
- Roh acknowledged that cost pressures may lead to consumer electronics price increases in 2026.
What Happened
Samsung co-CEO TM Roh announced at CES 2026 in January that the company aims to double its AI-enabled device footprint from 400 million to 800 million units by the end of 2026. The target covers smartphones, tablets, and other Galaxy-branded hardware running Google’s Gemini AI as their core intelligence layer. Android Headlines and Reuters both reported the figures, which Roh confirmed during an interview at the Las Vegas trade show.
Samsung had reached approximately 400 million AI-enabled mobile devices by the close of 2025, with Gemini integrated into Galaxy smartphones and tablets as the backbone of the company’s “Galaxy AI” feature suite. The 800 million target for 2026 represents a doubling in a single calendar year.
Why It Matters
The partnership gives Google an enormous distribution channel for Gemini at a time when Apple, Meta, and other competitors are racing to embed their own AI systems into consumer hardware. Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer by volume, and placing Gemini on 800 million devices would make it the most widely deployed consumer AI assistant by device count.
For Samsung, the AI integration serves a competitive purpose. Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have been gaining global market share, and Apple’s own AI features have expanded significantly. Samsung’s internal data shows that consumer awareness of the “Galaxy AI” brand jumped from 30% to 80% in a single year, suggesting that AI features are becoming a meaningful factor in purchase decisions.
Roh’s “Connect Future” strategy extends beyond phones. The vision involves embedding Gemini-powered AI into Samsung’s full product range, from the tablet in a user’s bag to the refrigerator in their kitchen. This positions Samsung as an ambient AI platform company rather than purely a hardware manufacturer.
Technical Details
Google’s Gemini serves as the underlying AI engine for Galaxy AI, handling on-device and cloud-based tasks including text summarization, image editing, real-time translation, and voice assistance. Samsung devices use a combination of on-device Gemini Nano for latency-sensitive tasks and cloud-based Gemini Pro for heavier workloads.
The 400-million-to-800-million expansion will come partly from new device sales and partly from software updates that bring Galaxy AI features to older compatible Galaxy hardware. Samsung has historically supported two to three years of major feature updates for its flagship devices, which means a significant portion of the 800 million target can be reached through over-the-air updates rather than new purchases alone.
The integration depth varies by device category. Smartphones and tablets receive the full Galaxy AI suite. Smart TVs, wearables, and home appliances get a subset of features tailored to their form factor and processing capabilities.
Who’s Affected
Galaxy device owners are the most directly affected. Users with compatible Samsung smartphones and tablets will receive Gemini-powered AI features through software updates, regardless of whether they purchased the device specifically for AI capabilities. This passive deployment means hundreds of millions of users will interact with Google’s AI without actively choosing to adopt it.
Google benefits from scale. Each Gemini interaction on a Samsung device generates usage data and strengthens Google’s position in the consumer AI market against Apple’s on-device AI approach and OpenAI’s ChatGPT partnerships with other manufacturers.
Competitors face pressure to match the distribution scale. Apple’s AI features are limited to its own hardware ecosystem, and no Android competitor has a partnership of comparable scope with a major AI provider.
What’s Next
Roh acknowledged that no company is “immune” to cost pressures, and he indicated that price increases for Samsung consumer electronics in 2026 may be unavoidable. Whether AI integration costs contribute to those increases — or whether Google subsidizes Gemini deployment to gain scale — remains unclear. The 800 million target is ambitious but depends heavily on the pace of software updates to existing devices and Samsung’s ability to maintain smartphone sales volume in an increasingly competitive market.
