Samsung’s smart speaker is still not available for purchase. Samsung’s latest response regarding the device is that the Galaxy Home Mini is free and not for sale separately.
Galaxy Home Mini free gift for Galaxy S20 buyers, for now
A Samsung South Korean representative, in response to an inquiring customer, wrote the following: “Hello, I am in charge of your Samsung mobile phone. I’m sorry for the late reply. Thank you for contacting Homi [sic] Mini. We will guide you through inquiry. At present, the Galaxy home Mini is not going to be sold separately when the relevant department is confirmed, and it is currently only available as a free gift of S20 pre-order purchase benefits.”
The representative says here that the device is only a free gift and will not be available for purchase apart from the Galaxy S20 series. Customers wanting to own the device will have to purchase Samsung’s latest flagship series to experience it, for now.
Samsung smart speaker as free gift: numbers boost
What is the reason behind Samsung’s decision to release its small smart speaker for free rather than sell the device outright? One major reason pertains to the smart speaker market and user numbers. Samsung is entering into a smart speaker market where Amazon has a large market share. The latest study on the smart speaker market in the US shows Amazon with a 68.2-percent market share and Google with 32-percent market share. The others (collectively) hold 18.8-percent. A number of users engage more than one smart speaker on a daily basis, which explains why the numbers add up to over 100-percent.
Globally, Amazon leads as well. As of last August, Baidu overtook Google with 3700-percent annual growth for 2019. Google, in contrast, saw its smart speaker shipments decline by 19.8-percent. Google’s decline in the speaker market is due to its own failure to update its devices and its new Nest branding. With Google rebranding its speakers, Google isn’t as willing to update older devices with the “Google Home” branding.
This is the tense market into which Samsung is entering with the Home Mini. With such stiff competition, Samsung needs a winning strategy that will grow its profit while also growing its user base. The Korean giant has what some say is a winning strategy.
Smart speaker for smartphone: Samsung’s winning numbers strategy
How does a company sell smart speakers in a stiff market while making a profit simultaneously? For Samsung, there’s an easy strategy: play up Android. The Korean giant sells more Android smartphones than any other OEM year after year. So, Samsung’s new strategy includes giving away its smart speaker free to Galaxy S20 buyers.
The Galaxy S20 is a winning flagship, as Samsung’s S series outsells its Note series each year without fail. Most Android users recall their first smartphone being a Samsung Galaxy flagship of some kind, if not one of Samsung’s budget-friendly devices. The company is practically the face of Android despite Google owning its customized experience.
The Galaxy S20 series has excellent cameras for camera professionals that take flagship photography forward, and few Android users are thinking of any other phone right now. Giving a free smart speaker with the S20 series means that Samsung can convert its Galaxy user base to smart speaker users. The Korean Android OEM can achieve a “twofer”: two (Galaxy S20 and Home Mini user numbers) for the price of one (giving away a free speaker to each S20 user).
If Samsung sells the Home Mini separately, it must spend to advertise the device, then spend to manufacture it. If the company markets the device alongside the Galaxy S20, the Bixby AI speaker will practically sell itself. The smartest companies think smart, even about finances and smart speakers.