AI on phones fails to impress Apple, Samsung users: Survey

While artificial intelligence has juiced up the marketing departments of smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung, it’s not generating much enthusiasm among users, according to a survey released Monday by a used electronics sales site.

Survey by Celcell Among more than 2,000 iPhone and Samsung users, 73% of iPhone and 87% of Samsung users said that AI features on their phones add little value to their smartphone experience.

Users’ low opinion of AI in their phones reflects confusion in the market. “While companies say ‘now with AI’ or ‘include AI,’ they’re not telling users what to do with it,” said HP Newquist, executive director relay groupA business consulting firm in New York City.

“They’re telling users, now you have access to AI. You can use AI now,” he told TechNewsWorld. “They’re just saying, right here. You’ve got it now. And quite frankly, that’s not a compelling reason to use AI.”

“We’re getting the AI ​​threat upon us, and I think consumers are completely unprepared by it,” he observed.

“We’re finding the same exact thing in corporate America,” he continued. “They’re being told, you have to use generative AI. You need to use agentic AI. But they are not being told how it can benefit them. Until that’s clear at both the consumer and corporate level, you’re going to get a fairly lukewarm response from first-time users.”

AI is not well understood

Privacy concerns may dampen enthusiasm about AI among iPhone users, claims Mark N. Vena, president and chief analyst SmartTech Research In Las Vegas. “Apple users have high expectations for data protection and are skeptical about whether the features offer meaningful improvements beyond what competitors already provide,” he told TechNewsWorld.

“Limited compatibility, with AI features possibly limited to newer iPhone models, could also alienate users of older devices,” he added.

On Samsung’s side, Vena also said, Galaxy AI is no different from other Android-based AI offerings, which may ease the tension. “Samsung’s features may appear incremental rather than groundbreaking.”

“Furthermore, Samsung’s inconsistent user experience with software and AI across devices may contribute to less enthusiasm than the more tightly integrated Apple ecosystem,” he said.

Greg Sterling, co-founder to the mediaA market research firm in San Francisco, asserts that one of the central problems with Apple Intelligence is that it is not well explained or well understood by the public. “Apple needs to do more to educate people about what features are available and when they will be available,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Tim Bazarin, its president creative strategyA San Jose, Calif.-based technology consulting firm agreed He told TechNews World, “AI integration in smartphones is new and not well understood by the average user. “Google and Apple need to post more tutorials that show users new AI features and how to use them.”

“AI requires you to learn how to prompt, and that’s not easy,” added Rob Enderle, president and chief analyst. Enderle GroupBend, Ore. is an advisory services firm.

“So we have a lot of training ahead of us in terms of users knowing how to use these things,” he told TechNewsWorld. “I would expect this survey to be bad this early because Apple Intelligence hasn’t been available very long, and people don’t know how to use it yet.”

Long rollout dampens euphoria

Sterling added that multiple features clustered under the rubric Apple Intelligence are rolling out incrementally over time, so users may not yet see concrete benefits. “In a year or two, I suspect the results of this survey will be different,” he predicted.

Will Kerwin, an equity analyst with Morningstar Research Services In Chicago, Apple cited Intelligence’s drawn-out rollout as the source of consumer apathy toward AI in its iPhones. “We believe it will take time for consumers to fully bake in how Apple Intelligence is most useful to them and adapts to personal habits,” he told TechNewsWorld.

“This informs our view that AI-driven Apple iPhone sales will be stronger in fiscal 2026 than they are currently in 2025,” he said.

Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst canalisA global market research company, added: “The additional reality is that most people don’t buy phones because of AI. They buy because of different features.”

“If we think about the kinds of features that AI enables, they’re not attractive right now,” he told TechNewsWorld.

“It’s not really surprising that AI features can frustrate people a bit because they’re not really as advanced as the marketing and messaging says,” he said.

Bjørhovde maintains that many tech companies are having an “existential crisis”, where they have lost the huge publicity and interest people had in them over the past 20 years.

“They have to come up with new stories to try to get people interested,” he claimed. “So, AI is now a gold mine. I believe this could give us some really interesting innovations in a few years. But for now, it’s this marketing bubble where people don’t really know what to believe.”

Decreased adherence

The CellCell survey also found that one in six iPhone users (16.8%) said they would consider switching to Samsung if it offered better AI features. In contrast, only 9.7% of Samsung users said they would consider switching to Apple for better AI features.

It added that the percentage of users loyal to Apple dropped from 92% in 2021 to 78.9% now. This compares to a decline of 74% to 67.2% over the same period for Samsung.

“In general, the excitement over Apple’s annual upgrade cycle has died down a lot,” said Ross Rubin, principal analyst Reticle ResearchA consumer technology consulting firm in New York City.

“These AI features are an attempt to inject something new and exciting into the experience,” he told TechNewsWorld. “But consumers are looking for a baseline of functionality and don’t think the platform is an issue anymore.”

Still, it’s surprising how many Apple users might be willing to jump ship for AI, he admits. “Apple users are more likely to choose Apple services,” he explained. “Because of the App Store investment, you can’t necessarily move all that stuff to another platform. So it surprisingly makes the aforementioned greater willingness to switch.”

However, not everyone sees Apple’s fan base as declining. “We don’t see brand loyalty slipping in our survey,” Bajarin declared “We expect Apple to have a blockbuster holiday season, driving iPhone sales and many ‘switchers’ in the Apple ecosystem.”

“We also don’t think loyalty to Apple is going away,” Kerwin added. “In our view, iPhone users have significant potential to remain iPhone users, and AI features are another way to lock them into Apple’s ecosystem.”