Samsung isn't going after Chrome with its PC browser, it's taking on Apple

A Samsung announcement took everyone by surprise today when the company revealed that it's finally releasing the Samsung Internet browser for PC. Samsung Internet has been around for 13 years on mobile devices and yet the company didn't offer it for PCs, even though it makes some solid Windows-powered laptops.

It felt like a denial of its destiny, for no apparent reason other than perhaps Samsung couldn't be bothered to make it. Yet, signs started emerging a few years ago that Samsung may be seriously thinking about launching its own browser on PCs. There was a rather short-lived launch in 2023 but nothing came of it, until today.

Samsung Internet for PC is now official. It supports Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 1809 or later. There's support for ARM-powered PCs as well. Samsung has released a beta version today for users in the United States and South Korea. A full release is planned for later.

What's great to see is that Samsung isn't making the browser exclusive to its Galaxy Book PCs. It's available for all Windows PCs regardless of the manufacturer, much like how Samsung Internet is available for all Android phones, not just those from Samsung.

One has to wonder, why now? Chrome is by far the most popular web browser on Windows, beating even Microsoft's own Edge browser by orders of magnitude. It's not even launching on Mac where Safari reigns supreme, so why has Samsung felt the need to go through with this now?

More than being just an attempt to close the ecosystem gap with Apple, it rather appears to be a bid to duplicate Apple's ecosystem magic on its own terms. Browsing feels like a breeze on Safari across Mac and Apple's mobile devices. The Handoff feature in particular makes it all very easy, enabling users to pick up where they left off across devices and take advantage of other cross-device sync features.

The synchronization goes far beyond just browser tabs. Galaxy owners will now be able to sync their bookmarks, passwords, and history across mobile and PC. Crucially, it enables Samsung to keep its users inside its ecosystem, even on Windows.

As with anything Samsung does this year, there's also an AI play here. Samsung Internet for PC comes with Browsing Assist, a feature first introduced with Galaxy AI, that allows for summarization and translation of webpages in different languages. It brings a feature that users are familiar with on their Samsung mobile devices to Windows PCs, giving them an incentive to stick with its browser even on their computers.

Apple has built up a whole narrative around privacy and security for Safari. This is Samsung's attempt to drive that narrative for a change. This browser brings the smart anti-tracking tech we've already seen on mobile, complete with a Privacy Dashboard that provides insights on how the browser has been protecting you online.

Safari's significant user base gives Apple immense negotiating power. Google has to pay Apple billions of dollars every year just to be the default search engine on Safari. While Samsung Internet for PC is a very long way from being in such a dominant position, if it's eventually able to build up a sizeable user base, Samsung may have the leverage it needs to pursue its own deals.

It will already have the capability to build Galaxy-specific search and AI features inside the browser that further deepen users' ties with its ecosystem. Samsung can then provide access to that user base, such as AI companies that have an insatiable appetite for users on terms that it finds beneficial.

Above all, this move demonstrates that while Apple builds a walled garden, Samsung builds bridges. It doesn't control the operating system on mobile and PC, Android is Google and Windows is Microsoft, yet Samsung finds a way to knit it all together for the benefit of its ecosystem.