New Samsung Tizen smartphones coming later this year

Surprise, surprise! Despite lack of word or whisper, Samsung isn't about to give up on its Tizen plans for world domination, especially when its one and only smartphone so far is reportedly selling well in the one and only region it's available. Insider sources even claim that the Korean OEM has plans to put out more, which means not just one, handsets running this less known mobile platform sometime later this year. Those devices will supposedly embrace a wide range of prices, which could mean we will finally get to see a high end Tizen smartphone, if such a thing even exists.

As an operating system, Tizen is still a bit rough around the edges and lacks the amount of real world experience that the likes of Android or iOS have. Technically, it is developed by a group of companies and independent developers under an open source foundation. In reality, however, Samsung has been the only major device maker who has taken the OS under its wing.

Tizen is pivotal to Samsung's dreams of an ecosystem that is independent of Google and Android. At the moment, Tizen is mostly found in the OEMs smartwatches and, more recently, in its newer Smart TVs. But to complete that ecosystem, it will need more than just one Tizen smartphone. It will, eventually, also need a Tizen tablet.

After numerous delays, Samsung's first Tizen smartphone was launched. The entry level Samsung Z1 was a far cry from the high-end Samsung Z that was planned for Japan and then Russia. Despite that, the smartphone is claimed to have sold 1 million units in India and is likewise doing well in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The problem that the new smartphones will face is still the same one that Tizen faces as a whole: apps. Samsung has been notoriously bad at mustering up and maintaining developers in its own walled garden. The comparatively few developers interested in Tizen started dropping off like flies thanks to numerous delays. With extremely few devices in the market, the incentive for monetization is practically nil. These rumored handsets could change the flow of the tide, though it remains to be seen if it will be too little too late.

SOURCE: Reuters