In the global smartphone and tablet world, it's Apple (AAPL 1.45%), Google (GOOG 2.49%) (GOOGL 2.30%), and Samsung, and then everyone else.
Source: Google.
Samsung and Apple consistently generate the bulk of the profits in these booming markets, and Google has ridden its Android OS to become the global standard for mobile software. Suffice it to say, times are good at each of these tech giants.
However, even as the global smartphone and tablet markets slowly mature in the years ahead, the competition between these tech giants appears as if it will remain as heated as ever. And in the most recent round of this cutthroat competition, it's Samsung that's preparing to disrupt longtime ally Google.
Can Samsung's Tizen unseat Google's Android?
Samsung has long had its own proprietary software -- known as Tizen -- in the works as a possible one-day alternative to Google's Android. And it appears that day might be closer than many originally thought.
According to several sources, Samsung plans to unveil its first Tizen-powered smartphone in Russia sometime in the third quarter, with the possibility of a Tizen-based handset appearing in other key markets soon thereafter. And while the odds that Samsung's Tizen could unseat Google Android remain long at best, the potential fallout in mobile as well as other emerging tech markets -- including wearable and smart TVs -- is enough for Google investors to certainly take seriously. In the following video, tech and telecom specialist Andrew Tonner breaks down the implications of this story.
