Samsung is gradually unveiling its long term strategy to reduce its dependence on Android. The Tizen Store is now live across the world, according to the Wall Street Journal, so anyone with a Tizen smartphone can now download and use the apps. There is a small problem however that may put you off getting a Tizen phone…
Samsung’s Tizen store now live
The issue is that there’s currently only one Tizen-powered phone available, the Z1, that runs Samsung’s home-grown Tizen OS, and it’s also only available in India and Bangladesh.
The Tizen Store though is accessible everywhere, so Samsung will want to leverage the hardware where it has been successful, such as in Asia, before rolling it out elsewhere.
The South Korean electronics giant likely wants to test the waters and see how well Tizen OS will fare in emerging markets, which also allows developers time to create more apps – there are currently just a few dozens apps in the Tizen store.
Samsung faces a huge uphill struggle to get popular app developers to make apps for Tizen. Microsoft and BlackBerry have failed to attract developers to make apps for their platforms, and neither is therefore as popular as iOS or Android.
Microsoft did recently announce new tools that will allow Android and iOS apps to run on Window Phone 10, which should help those devices to gain more market share. However, there’s no word yet that Samsung plans to do the same with its Tizen phones.
There are of course a few advantages for Samsung in moving away from Android – it will have much more control over its ecosystem, and should be able to link its phones, tablets, watches and TVs more seamlessly. Samsung also no doubt wants to stand out in an increasingly overcrowded smartphone market, especially in emerging markets in which it has had trouble differentiating from its rivals.
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.