Samsung has leveraged Google (GOOG +1.43%) Android to become the dominant smartphone vendor in the world by a large margin. The South Korean giant has utilized its advantages in vertical integration, scale, and marketing, and due to its size has many more methods to differentiate itself from rival Android OEMs.
The company has the resources to focus more heavily on software and services, two areas that are critical to success nowadays. Commoditized rivals can't afford to do as much. When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4, Android wasn't even mentioned as the company focused entirely on what it was bringing to the table. Samsung followed up by launching a new content hub that competes directly with Google Play, where users can search for apps and entertainment tailored to its Galaxy devices.
Sammy's at it again. The company just announced its first-ever annual developers conference, in an effort to grow a developer base that's specialized for its products. That extends beyond just smartphones and tablets, and Samsung is gearing the event toward a wide range of platforms and devices. The developer conference will take place later this year in California, not too far from where the company just began construction on a new $300 million headquarters in Silicon Valley.
Typically the companies that directly operate the primary operating system platforms are the ones that host developer conferences. Google I/O, Apple WWDC, and Microsoft Build have all come and gone this year. Samsung is now making it clear that it wants to contend with the best of them on a platform level.
While the event should include a wide range of platforms, Android is by far Samsung's largest and most successful portfolio. The company could be expected to focus developers on its Galaxy brand, as opposed to other product families like its Windows brand ATIV or its upcoming Tizen operating system.
Samsung continues to hijack Android for its own good.
