Samsung is distancing itself from Android

[Tech2011]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think this, but I can't help but say that Samsung seems to be distancing itself from Android.
Sure, all of their major U.S. and European flagship phones technically run Android, but it seems clear from interacting with their phones out of the box that they want to distance themselves from Android as much as possible.

I think it is even more than just about Samsung distancing itself from Google's version of Android. I think Samsung is explicitly making an effort to try to be bigger than Android and to be its own brand. I think the company doesn't want to be beholden to Android. Judging by their new UX for their flagships, they don't want people to think Android as the first defining mark of their phones. I think Samsung wants people to think of Samsung as the first thing that defines their phones.

Samsung must be using Android and working with Google to get the Google apps on their phones only because they have to for practical reasons. No phone maker (besides Apple of course) in North America can get away with shipping a phone that doesn't have Google services, and particularly the Google Play Store. So as far as I'm concerned, Samsung only uses Android because it really has to, not because they believe it's important to their success.

It wouldn't surprise me if the top execs at the company were discussing ways of getting rid of Google and Android from the equation in their future flagships. I don't think it's insane to think that they want to control their own destiny.

Does anyone think I'm way off the mark on this suggestion? What does everyone think?

 

[Tom Westrick]

You mean they're a business and want to differentiate themselves and maximize profit?

No kidding.

 

[anon(9419666)]

I think that Samsung is trying to differ it self from other phone that run Android.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Samsung has its own OS that it has released phones with and many other things.

Samsung has the world market of smart phones on their Android phones so I wouldn't expect them to drop that. This is their OS.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen

 

[Vyrlokar]

Personally, Samsuck can DIAF for all I care. Sure, android would take a hit if they left, but it would allow other OEMs to fill the gap while the tizen ship would not remain afloat for much. Yeah, I seriously dislike TouchWiz (Pure-ish android blends are much better), and yeah, my hate dates from the OG Galaxy Note, but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Personally, Samsuck can DIAF for all I care. Sure, android would take a hit if they left, but it would allow other OEMs to fill the gap while the tizen ship would not remain afloat for much. Yeah, I seriously dislike TouchWiz (Pure-ish android blends are much better), and yeah, my hate dates from the OG Galaxy Note, but fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

You can't even compare TouchWiz from the first Note, or the second Note or even the S3 or Note 3 to TouchWiz today.

 

[Markxmlx]

Samsung needs Android. There's a tremendous value to having Google Play services on your phone and having to convince developers to write apps for another platform is a nightmare I'm sure no one wants to deal with. I'm sure by throwing enough money at the problem Samsung could solve it but I don't see a real ROI for all that effort.

Truthfully having the latest version of Android is not something most people will care about nor is it really a differentiating factor given that the features found on it will eventually trickle down to other phones as well as new ones that will come with e.g. Nougat out of the box. For that reason Samsung prefers to differentiate their software and hardware rather than ensuring that they are up to date. Things like the S-Pen, Iris Scanner, Edge display/panel, Smart Stay, feature x, y, z are also marketing tools to show people 'look what this phone can do that your current one can't' which are important since you can't get an S-Pen from any other company except for Samsung. There's no point in showing off features that every phone already has.

So I don't necessarily agree that Samsung is distancing itself from Android. Superficially it might look like it but if you look closer Samsung are just trying to add unique features that may or may not be useful so that they can say things in their advertisements.

 

[LeoRex]

I don't know... Samsung has been working more closely with Google lately, and they've been scaling back a lot of the divergent UX elements in Touchwiz.

If they were going in the opposite direction, maybe... But it sure doesn't look that way.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Eh, I'm not so sure.

A lot of OEMs have their own take on Android, but lately, they've been inching closer and closer to Google's vision for consistency's sake along with making OTAs easier (with the exception of many Chinese skins, though Huawei is going to make EMUI closer to traditional Android).

If anything, from the following interview, Samsung is still dedicated to Android and they are still working closely with Google. As for Tizen, this seems to be only for their appliances and wearables, along with some region-specific cheap feature phones.

How Samsung plans its phones | The Verge

 

[kramer5150]

They might want it, but wanting and getting are two separate things. Here in the states its all about the carriers. Carriers DOMINATE. They don't want another closed ecosystem like Apple because that means they have to fight tooth and nail for every $ grubbing aspect. They want a weak OEM, that's at the mercy of the OS so they can flex their muscle, strong arm both and force features that generate them the revenue.

Gotta hand it to apple... sticking it to the carriers the way they do. I would love for another OEM to follow suit, but I just don't see it happening.

 

[Ry]

Samsung wants your next phone to be a familiar Samsung.

 

[Aquila]

I think Samsung definitely wants brand recognition, but they have no intention of ditching Android barring a major market change.

 

[Aquila]

Tizen is also not Samsung's OS; Samsung is just one of the largest contributors to the Tizen project. Tizen is what's running on many Samsung televisions, watches, etc. There were a couple of phones released in the east running Tizen, but nothing newsworthy.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Tizen is also not Samsung's OS; Samsung is just one of the largest contributors to the Tizen project. Tizen is what's running on many Samsung televisions, watches, etc. There were a couple of phones released in the east running Tizen, but nothing newsworthy.

I thought that was their OS.. People have been screaming about it in the rumor mill for US phones for years. Hmm..

The only move I see for Samsung is eventually being like Apple in telling carriers to leave their phones alone and sending updates direct.

Samsung is at the point they could start getting away with that.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I thought that was their OS.. People have been screaming about it in the rumor mill for US phones for years. Hmm..

The only move I see for Samsung is eventually being like Apple in telling carriers to leave their phones alone and sending updates direct.

Samsung is at the point they could start getting away with that.

It's part of the Linux Foundation. https://www.tizen.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen

 

[Golfdriver97]

I thought that was their OS.. People have been screaming about it in the rumor mill for US phones for years.

I think that's due to Samsung being a major contributor to that OS. One bad thing about it is they can't get anyone interested in developing for it.

 

[krisbecker9]

It is a risk worth taking for Samsung. Let's face it, Samsung was a hit because of the way it is today. But change can lead to something bigger.

 

[Aquila]

AFAIK Sammy is the only OEM to release hardware running Tizen and they're a major player in. I SERIOUSLY wish they'd play harder on limiting carrier interference.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Yeah they have the strength behind them I think to play tough with carriers now. I mean iPhone still has the US market but doesn't Samsung have the US market for Android?

 

[Kelly Kearns]

I'm hoping since Samsung sold US unlocked S7's that is the first step in Samsung getting ready to dictate to carriers..