Samsung, Despite Smartwatch OS Integration with Google... Smart TV Remains 'Tizen'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Samsung Electronics has decided to equip its next smartwatch with an Android-based unified wearable platform developed in collaboration with Google, instead of its proprietary OS, Tizen. However, it will continue to use the Tizen OS for its smart TVs.

According to industry sources and foreign media on the 24th, Samsung Electronics stated, "Tizen is the default platform for smart TVs." This was in response to speculation about a possible OS change for smart TVs following the announcement that Google and Samsung would integrate their smartwatch OSes.

Since 2015, Samsung Electronics has applied the self-developed Tizen OS to all TVs it manufactures.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA), the number of devices using Samsung's Tizen smart TV platform reached 162.3 million last year, a 21% increase compared to the same period the previous year, widening the gap with competitors and maintaining its lead. Tizen's market share is 12.7%, followed by LG webOS (7.3%), Sony PlayStation (6.4%), and Fire OS (6.4%).

David Watkins, an analyst at SA, also analyzed, "Samsung's leadership in the smart TV market will serve as the foundation for Tizen to maintain its position as the leading TV streaming platform for the coming years."

Meanwhile, on the 18th (local time), Google announced at its annual developer conference 'Google I/O 2021' that it would build a single unified platform combining the strengths of Google Wear and Samsung Electronics' Tizen. It is expected that the unified OS will be installed starting with the Galaxy Watch4, which Samsung will unveil in the second half of the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.