Samsung Electronics Co. will unveil a new health-tracking feature that Apple Inc.’s watches don’t yet have in the latest effort to steal a lead on the U.S. electronics leader.
Set for a grand unveiling in Paris on Wednesday, its new Galaxy Watch models will track the wearer’s Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) index, which may provide an indicator of metabolic health and biological age. An Ultra edition, designed to go up against the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2, is also expected to debut alongside new foldable handsets and a Galaxy Ring health tracker.
South Korea’s biggest company relied on its consumer electronics business to help it weather a deep downturn in memory last year, and is now seeking to build on that with an ecosystem of devices and services to rival Apple’s. Wearables and health are key pillars of that endeavor, as Samsung branches out to compete with the Oura ring while enhancing the capabilities of its watches.
“Samsung’s ecosystem portfolio is core to attracting brand switchers in the premium segment,” Canalys analyst Jack Leathem wrote ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event. “Bringing AI-powered health and fitness features to wearables will be important to differentiate from other ecosystem vendors and smartwatch specialists.”
The company pioneered the foldable smartphone category as a premium offering in 2019 and has pushed its adoption on the global stage, though Samsung phones haven’t made inroads in the world’s biggest smartphone market, China. Foldable shipments reached 17.5 million in 2023, with Samsung holding a 63% market share, according to Canalys. The company’s expected to refresh its flip and larger foldable models on Wednesday.
Samsung’s focus in Paris underscores how device manufacturers are exploring health monitoring features as a way to attract and retain customers. Both Apple and its Korean rival have worked for years on developing sensors to continuously track blood sugar, which would be a breakthrough that benefits millions of diabetics.
AGEs readers “have existed in larger hardware and we’ve now miniaturized that and made it possible to measure that through the watch for the very first time,” said Hon Pak, Samsung’s mobile digital health chief. The technology is seen as a reasonable stopgap on the path to developing noninvasive continuous glucose monitoring. “We believe that consumers need something now.”
To do the more sophisticated measurement, Samsung engineers added more colors of LEDs, which are used to illuminate blood vessels and draw information about the user’s health. The new watches also measure heart rate during intensive workouts with 30% greater accuracy, Samsung said ahead of its showcase event.
Samsung’s new watches come shortly before Apple unveils a major upgrade to its Apple Watch portfolio to celebrate the gadget’s 10th anniversary. The next iteration from Apple will offer larger displays and a new chip, though it’s not yet clear whether features to detect high blood pressure and sleep apnea will be ready in time for this year’s release.
— Yoolim Lee for Bloomberg
