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​Bixby Voice roll out to China will follow Galaxy Note 8 launch

The Chinese version of Bixby Voice is 90 percent done and will roll out within a couple of months, Samsung's mobile boss has said.
Written by Cho Mu-Hyun, Contributing Writer

The Chinese version of Bixby Voice is "90 percent" complete, Samsung Electronics' mobile boss has said, and will roll out a couple of months.

DJ Koh, president of Samsung Mobile, made the announcement at a press conference at the sidelines of Unpacked Event in New York following the launch of the Galaxy Note 8 on Wednesday. He added that there are some 100 million Samsung TVs in China, and the firm is preparing a service that can connect TVs with smartphones using Bixby.

The Chinese language version of Bixby's voice feature was originally scheduled for launch in June. The Korean version rolled out in April, while the US got an English version in July.

Earlier this week, Samsung expanded Bixby's voice recognition feature to over 200 countries, though it can be only used in Korean and English.

An AI speaker version of Bixby will be launched within a year, Koh also said.

Samsung, once number one in smartphones in China, has faced an onslaught from local competitors Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei, and has been pushed out of the top five. The Galaxy S8 was received positively there, Koh said, and the Galaxy Note 8 will help to further regain consumer trust there after the Note 7 debacle.

China was not originally included on the original countries that were subject to the Note 7 recall -- a move that was heavily criticized by local consumers.

Koh said he has been keen to put the Note 7 debacle behind the company.

"It was difficult. What is most important is to recover our lost pride. I hope the Galaxy Note 8 is received well by the market so that morale of our employees can be boosted. I sincerely hope that the Galaxy Note 8 becomes a turning point of a return of faith in us for our customers who loved the Note series."

Prior to the launch of the Note 8, Samsung conducted a survey of 5,000 Note users and found that the brand had higher loyalty compared to others, Koh said. 85 percent of them said they would suggest the Note to others, while 74 percent it was the best smartphone series in the market.

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