With rumours circulating that Korean electronics giant Samsung was looking to purchase a mobile operating system following Google’s announcement it had acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, it seems the company definitely has the intention of pushing ahead with its own mobile platform after it emerged it may open-source Bada within the next year.
The WSJ reports that the company has no plans to buy a software company, instead Samsung will reduce its reliance on the Android operating system and move into turning its Bada platform into a software suite capable of being used in smartphones and smart TVs – much like Google does currently with its smartphone, tablet and TV set-top box services.
Samsung already commands a large smartphone market share and the move is expected to help sustain the company’s strong growth, bringing third party developers to the platform to help adapt and create new tools and services for its software.
The first Bada phones launched in 2009, debuting on Samsung’s Wave range of smartphones in Europe, Asia and in emerging markets. In July, Samsung announced that sales of Bada-enabled smartphones had managed to top one million worldwide sales in just four weeks from launch, with the company recently launching three new Bada smartphones in Asia.
Samsung was linked with the purchase of HP’s webOS platform but quickly denied rumours.
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Following its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a number of smartphone makers have been rumoured to be pursuing their own mobile platforms to reduce their reliance on the search giant but also remain competitive should Google decide to adapt terms on how its rivals utilise the Android OS. HTC has said it is looking to buy a mobile platform but has noted it is “in no rush” to do so, especially as sales of its Android smartphones continue to boom, especially in Europe.
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