14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that Samsung is one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers is indeed well known, but what might surprise many is that, according to new information coming from South Korea, the company is thinking of ditching Android and going with its own Tizen OS on its upcoming mobile devices.
A Samsung executive has stated that Samsung is considering the expansion of its Tizen software to all company devices, to the detriment of Google’s Android platform, according to Korea Times. The company is reportedly trying to reduce its dependence on Google’s mobile OS.
The global platform market is currently dominated by Google’s open-based platform, and the company even supports third-party developers in the search of expanding its base.
The executive has also admitted that Samsung has fallen behind when it comes to developing content and its own platform, but the company "is getting much better." He has then added that Tizen allows developers to make all sort of corrections and redistribute updates to others.
Samsung’s Tizen is packed with applications from the largest developers and even some apps that replace the current options available on Android. Samsung developed the Samsung Pay app for making payments, to compete against Android Pay.
Smartwatches, some household appliances, and Z-branded Samsung phones run on Tizen
Samsung implemented Android OS on most of its devices but did feature Tizen OS on Z-branded phones in India, smartwatches, and some household appliances. This is one of the reasons Samsung is currently testing the Tizen OS in India, where it sold 64 million phones in the first quarter of this year.
The South Korean giant even invited companies in Russia to promote the Tizen software, and it plans to launch campaigns and hold forums for developers to expand Tizen’s base.
IDC market research firm predicts that Tizen’s share in the wearable devices market will increase by 11.3% until the year’s end while Apple Watch OS and Android Wear will have 49.4% and 21.4% market shares, respectively.