It would seem silly to take on Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and its more than 900 million active users, but you can't stop some companies from trying.
The Korea Times is reporting that Samsung -- yes, Samsung -- is hoping to throw its hat into the social-networking ring next year. Samsung officials tell the paper that the company plans to capitalize on its strength in smartphones, tablets, and smart televisions to reach a sizable audience with its platform.
Don't laugh. Samsung has a point.
Samsung has already overtaken Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to become the world's largest handset maker on the strength of its Android devices. Samsung devices already incorporate a mobile chat application called ChatOn, and it's working on a Family Story social suite that consolidates photo sharing, chatting, and schedule reminders.
Bringing it all together to make a full-blown social-networking application that's built into a ton of connected devices does make sense.
Sure, hardware companies have flopped in the past at making a social stand. Apple's digital-music dominance through iTunes wasn't enough to make Ping work. Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android is the mobile operating system of choice globally, yet Google+ remains far behind Facebook.
However, sooner or later, Facebook will be vulnerable to something better. South Korea may seem to be an unlikely birthplace for a legitimate Facebook rival, but Samsung's global penetration can't be ignored.
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