Third Time's A Charm? Samsung Tizen Rumored For India

If at first you don't succeed, there's always next time. After two abruptly canceled launches in Japan and Russia, Samsung might now be eying the mobile world's newest darling. India press have quoted local Samsung execs claiming that the first Tizen smartphone will be headed to the country by November.

India seems to be the new China of the mobile industry. OEMs, especially those with mid-range offerings, are starting to claim a part of that market pie even as local manufacturers start taking a stronger foothold. Mozilla has recently launched one of its Firefox OS smartphones in the country and just yesterday Finnish startup Jolla announced its exclusive Snapdeal availability in India. Even Google chose the country as its first market for the new Android One program.

Thus it isn't surprising that Samsung wants to keep a presence in the country, which it does already have. What might be puzzling, if true, is its decision to take another stab at launching a Tizen smartphone here. Perhaps it thinks that compared to Japan and Russia, the market might be more receptive to alternative mobile platforms. But unlike China, the market space isn't as crowded yet and Samsung still has some clout, though slowly declining in favor of local companies.

But there might be other factors going against a Samsung Tizen smartphone, particularly in terms of price. Many of the models that thrive in the Indian market, or at least are being thrown at it, aren't exactly high-end and expensive handsets. But that is what the first Tizen smartphone might be if Samsung sticks to its Samsung Z hardware. That one carried a 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm chip, 2 GB of RAM, a 4.8-inch 720p screen, and an 8 megapixel rear shooter. Not exactly top of the line, but slightly above the mid-tier spectrum.

Then again, Samsung might have completely scrapped the Samsung Z and have repurposed one of its many existing budget smartphone to be a Tizen standard bearer. It might indeed have to do so if it plans to compete in that emerging market against the likes of Android One. Still, these are all pretty much rumors and speculations that have yet to be proven, or disproved, in two months' time. But given Samsung's track record so far, remaining Tizen fans shouldn't hold their breaths just yet.

SOURCE: India Times

VIA: LinuxGizmos