Samsung Electronics is counting on artificial intelligence to outpace global growth in smartphones and home appliances

Samsung Electronics plans to grow its AI business in devices, aiming to outpace global market growth in the consumer electronics segment this year.

The global consumer electronics market for smartphones, TVs and home appliances will grow roughly 3% in 2025, Jong-Hee Han, chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics, told CNBC’s Chery Kang.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone and TV maker, expects its mobile device business to grow 4%-5% this year, while growth in its TV and home appliances divisions is also likely to accelerate, said Han, also head of eExperience devices ( DX) division of Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Electronics is stepping up its efforts to connect your devices with artificial intelligenceinstalling AI chips in its refrigerators, washing machines and robotic vacuum cleaners.

It has also boosted its AI functions on its high-end flagship smartphones, such as the Galaxy S24 series, which has more AI-enabled features including real-time translation certain phone calls in a foreign language.

This comes as Chinese brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi have emerged as serious competitors Samsung by offering premium smartphones at significantly lower prices.

Competition from Chinese companies is “beneficial” for Samsung and consumers, Han said during the interview, noting that the company wants to differentiate its products with more safety and convenience, rather than lowering prices.

Samsung announced a a major leadership reshuffle in Novemberappointing Jun Young-hyun as co-CEO and head of the memory chip division, sharing leadership duties with Han.

The South Korean tech giant, once a dominant force in the memory chip sector, has fallen behind SK Hynix in the race to supply high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM chips, a key component for AI leader Nvidia.

Samsung will reportedly release its own revenue in the fourth quarter and operating profit forecasts on Wednesday, ahead of the release of quarterly results at the end of January.

Samsung operating profit for the December quarter expected to be 8.2 trillion won ($5.6 billion)according to Reuters estimates, a significant increase from the 2.8 trillion won recorded a year earlier, but down from 9.18 trillion won in the previous quarter.

In October, June, the head of the semiconductor department, issued a rare apology for disappointing the company performance in the third quarter.

Shares of the South Korean giant fell 32% last year, according to LSEG data, trailing the broader benchmark Kospi’s loss of 9.6%.

The stock price has “never been this low before,” Han said during the interview, adding that the company has a “value enhancement” plan aimed at increasing shareholder returns. The plan will be released “one by one when it’s OK,” he said, according to a CNBC translation of his statement in Korean.

Investors hope Samsung will bridge the gap with HBM and take its “value enhancement” scheme more seriously, Phillip Wool, head of research at Rayliant Global Advisors, said in a note on Monday, adding that the 10 trillion won share buyback plan could help stabilize the share price.

Company in November he revealed a surprise plan buy back about 10 trillion won worth of shares in the next 12 months.

Peter Lee, an analyst at Citi, warned in a Dec. 31 note that longer-than-expected delays in getting Nvidia’s approval for its HBM chips and weaker PC sales could still pose downside risks. He maintained a “buy” rating on the stock while cutting his price target to 83,000 won from 87,000 won.