India is the hotbed of budget devices and everyone from Microsoft to Google is rushing a slice of the pie. So is Korean giant Samsung which has been leading as far as smartphone marketshare in that part of the world is concerned. However, it has had to fight off stiff competition from nit just Google and Microsoft but the likes of Motorola and several homegrown companies as well. To compound matters, Google’s Android One program just went live last week and no one stands to lose more than Samsung seeing as it is that the company is not yet among the big names in the industry that will be joining the Google-backed program.
Instead Samsung is counting on its own in-house software, Tizen, to drive its budget smartphone agenda and a November launch is on the cards. This is according to a Tarun Malik, a Samsung executive who was quoted by the Economic Times saying that the company was keen to introduce unnamed Tizen devices to the Indian market in a month’s time to compete with the current Android offerings.
We have not heard so much about Tizen devices save for leaks here and there and when we got to hear about one, the Samsung Z, its launch was cancelled before anyone could have a look at it so potentially these could be the first Tizen smartphones to hit the market. Whether Tizen powered smartphones can counter Android One and other budget devices in that market is something we’ll have to wait and see though if favourably priced, they stand a chance since at this point in time we don’t doubt Samsung’s ability to push aggressively a product it really believes in.
Source: ET
