Samsung to Introduce Local languages, India-Specific Features to Drive AI Appliances Sale

Appliances & Consumer Electronics major Samsung is introducing artificial intelligence-based commands for vernacular languages and India-specific features to drive growth in the highly competitive domestic appliances market here, said executives of the South Korean company.

The Chaebol is quite encouraged by the growth of the registered user base of the SmartThings app in India, currently ranked third globally.

"We have approximately 23 million registered users of SmartThings in India, and India ranks third globally. The top two countries are the US and Brazil. The number of registered devices is also growing fast, having increased 39 per cent (globally) in 2024 compared to the previous year," they said.

SmartThings is Samsung's app that lets users control the company's IoT devices and has an approximately 390 million user base globally.

Samsung expects 70 per cent of its sales in India will come from AI-based appliances, hence, it is now introducing AI to its mid-range appliances also, as per its elaborate strategy.

Currently, for India, we have exclusive line-ups and our endeavour is to achieve 70 per cent of our sales from AI-related products... Initially, our AI technology was available in our premium products, but recently we have developed Tizen Lite, which is adapted to our mid-end products that do not have screens so that these appliances can also support features like Bixby," they said.

Initially, Samsung's AI tech was available in its premium products, however, it also developed a lower version of Tizen OS, which is Tizen Lite.

"Tizen Lite is adapted to our mid-end products that do not have screens, so that those appliances can also support features like Bixby. And similar kinds of features like AI energy, AI Wash or AI VRT+ that we had in front-load washers, which is a more premium segment in India. We have applied in top-loader washing machines as well," they said.

Tizen is a Linux-based operating system primarily developed by Samsung for use in various smart devices.

Samsung is adding nine Indian languages - Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Telugu - to its Family Hub refrigerator next month.

"India is the only country where we have four kinds of software centres from each division - consumer electronics, mobile, and appliances. We also have a Samsung Design Centre in Delhi. These centres are involved in localised feature development," said Sungil Hahm, Vice President of Samsung Electronics' Software R&D Group.

The media roundtable was addressed by Sungil Hahm, Vice President of Samsung Electronics' Software R&D Group, Deokho Kim, Vice President and Head of Software Group at Samsung Electronics and Moonkeun Lee, Vice President and Head of AI Solution Lab at Samsung Electronics.

Replying to the query, the executives said: "We are trying to deliver three key pillars of customer values – easy to use, saving and care." "Keeping that in mind, we are trying to analyse the customer's data, and we are meeting customers, we are doing interviews, we are trying to get feedback and trying to know their pain points, and from their pain points we are trying to deliver or find solutions to deliver these three key pillars among our products," they said.

Samsung is also adding features such as 'Stain Wash' to its washing machine panels in India, unlike other regions, where this feature is available for download via its SmartThings app, which helps consumers connect and control multiple devices quickly and easily.

For room air-conditioners, the South Korean company has launched customised cooling for Indian consumers, based on 'lifestyle research' that shows Indian customers use fans and an AC together.

Samsung has also launched a customer service feature called 'Home Care Plus,' which helps identify errors in its appliances.

The Tizen operating system powers Samsung’s appliances and televisions, while Bixby is the company's voice platform or virtual assistant.

The executives also claimed Samsung's Bespoke AI home appliances help to save from 10 to 70 per cent of energy and come with AI-based diagnostic features for proactive care. Moreover, consumer data on the cloud collected from its connected home appliances is secured by Samsung Knox, the company’s security solution.