Early Adopters Love the Galaxy S8 but are Indifferent toward Bixby, Says Strategy Analytics

Boston, MA – July 5, 2017 – The Samsung Galaxy S8 was released on April 21, 2017. With new screen dimensions and the addition of an in-house built artificial intelligence (AI) assistant – Bixby – there was plenty of hype surrounding Samsung’s new flagship smartphone. During the first forty days of availability, in excess of 1,500 buyer reviews of the device have been posted on major online review sites including Amazon, AT&T and Verizon. 

Analyzing these reviews in a new report from the Consumer Sentiment Analysis (CSA) service at Strategy Analytics, early adopters have given the Samsung S8 an average rating of 4.57 out of 5. As the new highest rated smartphone on the market, the Samsung S8 has become the new Apex Product in the US.

Click here for the report: https://www.strategyanalytics.com/access-services/ux-innovation/consumer-sentiment-analytics/reports/report-detail/early-buyers-love-the-samsung-galaxy-s8-indifferent-toward-bixby#.WVY3yITyuM8

Key report findings include:

• Display drives Galaxy S8 success in terms of both impact and sentiment. As the most talked about aspect of the S8, the term appeared in nearly a third of all reviews.  Sentiment towards the display is very positive (3.9/5).
• Camera is the aspect of the device that buyers were most positive towards. Mentioned in 19% of Galaxy S8 reviews, sentiment is extremely positive (4.3/5). Interestingly, there were no critical comments on the camera.
• Bixby, Samsung’s much-hyped new AI assistant, was mentioned in just 4% of Galaxy S8 reviews. Moreover, sentiment for this feature was marginally negative (2.9/5).
• Despite ‘Infinity’ being a focus of S8’s marketing, impact is low - fewer than 3.5% of reviews referenced it.  Despite this however, sentiment is very high (4.1/5).

“Based on our analysis of the first forty days of buyer reviews, Strategy Analytics believes that Samsung’s Brand Equity and an impressive new display are the primary reasons that the Galaxy S8 has achieved Apex Product status in the US smartphone market”, commented Adam Thorwart, Lead Analyst and report author. “Over the years, Samsung has gathered a large consumer base for its smartphone products. However, brand reputation is not the sole reason the S8 is highly rated. The new Display - 14% larger than the previous generation product while keeping the same device width - was very positively received by early adopters.”

Kevin Nolan, VP, UXIP added “The impact of Bixby was less than Strategy Analytics anticipated, indicating that smartphone based AI assistants do not yet move the needle for consumers. However, this could change when Bixby becomes fully functional – some early buyer reviews have indicated frustration toward Bixby’s lack of functionality at launch. When Bixby is fully functional it could generate much more buzz around AI assistants.”