Report: Samsung wont be leaving Android for Tizen anytime soon
There’s been a lot of murmurings around the web that Samsung’s new reign as smartphone king would eventually lead them away from Android, and onto their own open sourced Linux-based OS dubbed, Tizen. The younger brother of Bada (Samsung’s first attempt at a smartphone OS), Tizen was originally scheduled for a 2012 release in Samsung’s homeland of South Korea, although the OS has yet to see the light of day on any smartphone as of yet. That should change in 2013 with a Samsung’s plans to finally release mobile devices running Tizen OS later this year.
Where Bada could more or less be described as “Android Lite,” Tizen is a more robust mobile experience. Of course there are many similarities with Android — both are open sourced and have a very similar UI — some believed that this could be the beginning of the end for Samsung and Android. But is it possible for the two to coexist and if so, how much time and effort will Samsung devote to the fledgling OS? According to one analyst, not much.
Hillside Partners Rory Maher assured clients today that the chances of Samsung leaving Android in favor of Tizen are slim. Maher believes that just like Bada, Tizen will stick to the countries where Bada succeeded in its tiny 3% market share, namely, Asian markets. So, if the thought of the Samsung Galaxy S5 running Tizen OS is keeping you up at night, get some rest. Galaxy S6? That might be another story…