Will Samsung Veer Away from Android?

Upon formally assuming office Monday this week, new Samsung Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun immediately disclosed that he intends to pour a great deal of time and resources for the giant South Korean tech firm to further develop its software division.

The aim, Mr Kwon said, was for Samsung to keep a sharp edge in the fiercely competitive tech business and maybe in due time check the dominance of its chief rival, the Cupertino, California-based Apple.

As of Q1 2012, Samsung has proven that it has just the mettle to deal with Apple head-to-head as the Asian firm exceeded the number of iPhones that were sold globally by the end of March, giving the company's Galaxy smartphone lines more boost on its tussle with the world's number one mobile phone.

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But the new Samsung CEO would not want to be complacent as he stressed that by focusing on the further development of Samsung's proprietary software, the company would also bolster its hold as one of the world's leading tech firms.

"A particular focus must be given to serving new customer experience and value by strengthening soft capabilities in software, user experience, design, and solutions," The Wall Street Journal reported Mr Kwon as saying during his initial speech as Samsung top honcho on Monday.

And the new tact may mean that Samsung attempt to develop its in-house mobile platform despite the success it has been reaping with its numerous lines of Android-powered gadgets.

Analysts said that Samsung's new plan, as laid out by Mr Kwon, who is a career executive in the company prior to his promotion as CEO, was clearly prompted in large part by the likelihood that Google had formally acquired Motorola Mobility.

It would not be surprising then, experts said, should Google, which provides Android for free to mobile device makers, elects to favour future Motorola devices, a spectre that could leave not only Samsung but a host of gadget vendors that rely on Google's mobile operating system.

While Google had earlier asserted that no preference for Motorola is forthcoming, Mr Kwon obviously would not take the word of the Internet giant as doing so, analysts said, would be tantamount to suicide.

The Samsung boss has acknowledged that to maintain its gains in the lucrative mobile computing market, the company must do more to one day come up with a viable Android alternative in the event that Google would eventually make the mobile OS exclusive to Motorola devices, which analyst said if a very remote possibility.

Nonetheless, Mr Kwon said that Samsung must gun for the absolute lead in the immediate years ahead and the company can only do that if it has complete control of its core business, the same way that Apple does with all its million-selling products such as the iPhone and iPad.

And today, Samsung has more reasons to worry about competitions that hold total sway on their products as Microsoft which officially unveiled its Surface tablet computer, to be powered by the new Windows 8 and will hit the global markets later this year.

Analysts said that with higher priorities on its own software architecture, Samsung is also beefing up its armoury on likely patent wars that could erupt in the future, much like the same one that the company is waging against Apple, with key markets around the world as the backdrops.

But Mr Kwon's gambit may also prove disastrous to Samsung, according to John Dvorak of PC Magazine.

Mr Dvorak suggested that Samsung should first revisit what happened to Nokia and Research In Motion, both tech giants in the past decade that saw humbling declines when they opted to stick with internal technologies that failed to counter the onslaught of Apple's iOS and Google's Android by the late 2000s.

Some analysts, however, are supportive of Mr Kwon's plan and argued that Samsung's ploy is worth trying since the company currently sits in a strong position to delve experiments, plus the huge resources to finance such exploratory works.

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