Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) has been working quite feverishly on its own mobile operating system known as Tizen for quite some time. The rationale for this project appears to be that Samsung, like Apple (AAPL 3.40%), should own its own ecosystem in order to ultimately be immune to Google (GOOG +1.50%) potentially pulling the rug out from under Samsung (which derives roughly two-thirds of its operating income from smartphones).
With that in mind, there are also some fairly compelling counterarguments, principally that Android is already so ubiquitous and so open to customization that trying to force yet another smartphone platform onto the market may not be as successful as Samsung-despite its massive scale and influence-might hope.
Join Evan Niu, CFA and Ashraf Eassa as they look at the puts and takes of Samsung pursuing Tizen.
