Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is facing a new challenge to its Android operating system from Samsung Electronics. The South Korean company will unveil its new Television products in the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. Samsung’s new TV sets will run the Tizen operating system. Working on the concept of “smart homes”, the world’s largest manufacturer of TV sets may also show how its latest TV products interact with other home appliances including vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and washing machines.
Prior to working on Tizen-powered TV sets, Samsung has initially sought to come up with smartphones running on the said operating system, but the planned release of such phones last year was indefinitely put on hold. Currently, Samsung’s smartphones rely on the Android operating system of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and the company is looking towards cutting off such reliance by using Tizen, a linux based operating system developed out of collaboration between Samsung, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DCM).
Tizen was initially developed as a unified operating system for a variety of devices apart from TV sets. Such devices include wearables, smartphones, and car dashboards. Samsung, however, is not the first in coming up with smart, internet connected TV’s. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Android operating system is already in use by some internet-connected television sets. Samsung is hoping to reap revenue from launching Tizen-powered devices in the same way that Google and Apple earns profits from their respective operating systems. It is estimated that the market for smart, internet connected appliances will be $7.1 trillion in worth five years from now.
Even as it is pushing for Tizen, Samsung’s smartphones is currently dependent on Android, which is running on 84 percent overall of the world’s smartphones. Almost 243 million of the smartphones Samsung shipped through September 30 of last year run on the operating system from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), even as the company’s mobile phone sales figures recorded an approximate decline of 33 percent. The decline translates to a slip of about 74 percent in profits from the company’s mobile phone sales, which happens to be the biggest generator of its earnings.
This article has been written by Nonito Guntan.
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