Samsung invests $500K in Linux Foundation to battle iOS [u]

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Samsung is set to announce that it will be joining the Linux Foundation at the "Platinum" level, which is the highest tier of membership and carries a roughly $500,000 entry fee.

Update: Business Insider incorrectly reported the membership fee as $500 million in its original article which has since been updated. The Linux Foundation contacted AppleInsider and notes the actual price of Platinum membership is $500,000 per year.

Samsung's half-million dollar investment will give the company a seat on the foundation's board and allow it greater oversight of upcoming versions of the Linux platform including the Tizen mobile operating system, reports Business Insider.

The new stake in Linux as well as the company's substantial backing of Tizen lends itself nicely to a theoretical push toward a true Samsung-backed iOS competitor and alternative to Google's Android, which itself is based on the open-source platform.

"Having just recently beat out Nokia to become the world's largest maker of mobile phones, this announcement also makes it clear how Samsung will now try to attack Apple's position with both the Linux-based Android and Tizen platforms," a Linux Foundation spokesperson said.

Samsung recently overtook Apple to become the world's number one smartphone maker and was pegged as the top overall mobile phone vendor in March. With its overwhelming market share, the South Korean company could be looking to leverage its momentum and take Apple head-on with a more appealing alternative to iOS.

Tizen
Tizen mobile OS running on a Samsung development unit. | Source: TizenTalk.com


Since Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007 smartphones have become an increasingly popular option for wireless customers and the introduction of the market-leading Android OS has further expanded the sector.

Recent analysis showed a slight dip in Android uptake over the last month while Apple's iPhone continued to grow during the same sequential period. While it is too early to deduce that demand for Google's OS is waning, it seems that Samsung is hedging its bets and will be investing more heavily in the research and development of Tizen.

With support from the Linux Foundation's 800 companies and 8,000 developers, including fellow Platinum members IBM, Oracle, Intel, Fujitsu and Qualcomm Innovation Center along with substantial manufacturing faculties, Samsung is perhaps the only OEM that can take a real swipe at Apple's iOS.

Wireless heavyweight Nokia's Symbian fell by the wayside as iOS and Android took control of the smartphone market, and the company's partnership with Microsoft to use the Windows Phone platform is unlikely to cause serious disruption in the mobile space. RIM is also seen as a non-factor as the once-mighty BlackBerry faces obsolescence in light of recent corporate upheaval and stock drops.

Samsung has yet to divulge what it plans to do with its newly-obtained position, but the company's collaboration with Intel and others over the thus far nascent Tizen is a good indicator to what lies ahead.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    tumblr_m4yavs5fBa1rnjqpi.gif

  • Reply 2 of 55
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member


    They really should save their money. Why should Apple keep funding the enemy?


     


    Also, AI made a major mistake in the title... It's 1/2 million dollars, NOT $500 MILLION!

  • Reply 3 of 55
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    I like the idea.  But like Tallest Skill.  Good Luck.

  • Reply 4 of 55
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    So is that four different OSs that Samsung is pushing? That seems like a strategy that will kill them. They have pushed Android so long that people associate them with it-- when they need to buy a new phone and the Samsung phone they want runs Bada, WinMo, or Tizen... are they going to look at a competitor?

    They should push something, but I would imagine they would be much better served with a BSD license that they can control and not release back to their competitors.
  • Reply 5 of 55
    dluxdlux Posts: 666member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Also, AI made a major mistake in the title... It's 1/2 million dollars, NOT $500 MILLION!



    I think Dr. Evil was providing the information to the author. He sometimes screws up like that.

  • Reply 6 of 55
    msimpsonmsimpson Posts: 452member


    Where exactly does that $500M go?    Linus Torvalds?   Lawyers?    


     


    The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Seems like some sort of marketing / public image move by Samsung to make it look like they are a benevolent concerned organization.


     


    I wonder how much they have paid lawyers fighting Apple?  


     


    $500M would feed a lot of starving kids, or buy a lot of razors for Linux programmers.

  • Reply 7 of 55
    msimpsonmsimpson Posts: 452member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post



    So is that four different OSs that Samsung is pushing? That seems like a strategy that will kill them. They have pushed Android so long that people associate them with it-- when they need to buy a new phone and the Samsung phone they want runs Bada, WinMo, or Tizen... are they going to look at a competitor?

    They should push something, but I would imagine they would be much better served with a BSD license that they can control and not release back to their competitors.


    If you never update or patch them after you release them, you can push a whole lot of OSs.    Can we get CP/M on a tablet please?

  • Reply 8 of 55
    mjuarezmjuarez Posts: 6member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    They really should save their money. Why should Apple keep funding the enemy?


     


    Also, AI made a major mistake in the title... It's 1/2 million dollars, NOT $500 MILLION!!!



     


    Yeah, please fix that title.  Before we know it, the WSJ will be projecting lower Samsung earnings BECAUSE of Linux, and running articles on why Linux is bad for business.


     


    Still, $500K for a major player such as Samsung is nothing.

  • Reply 9 of 55
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member


    They could just start with FreeBSD and Mach...


     


    And what can Linux do that Android could not against iOS?  This isn't a play against Apple.  Tizen isn't going to take share away from iOS, it's only going to take share away from Android...if it does even that.  The only way to sell Linux is to essentially hide it like Google does.


     


    Good lord, what a colossal waste of money.

  • Reply 10 of 55
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by msimpson View Post


    Where exactly does that $500M go?    Linus Torvalds?   Lawyers?    


     


    The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Seems like some sort of marketing / public image move by Samsung to make it look like they are a benevolent concerned organization.


     


    I wonder how much they have paid lawyers fighting Apple?  


     


    $500M would feed a lot of starving kids, or buy a lot of razors for Linux programmers.



     


    It's half a mil... 1,000x less!

  • Reply 11 of 55
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nht View Post


    They could just start with FreeBSD and Mach...


     


    And what can Linux do that Android could not against iOS?  This isn't a play against Apple.  Tizen isn't going to take share away from iOS, it's only going to take share away from Android...if it does even that.  The only way to sell Linux is to essentially hide it like Google does.


     


    Good lord, what a colossal waste of money.



     


    I'll keep saying this until they fix it or I give up... IT'S NOT HALF A BILLION! IT'S 1/2 A MILLION!

  • Reply 12 of 55
    dluxdlux Posts: 666member


    Boy, 500 billion dollars is a lot just to get a seat on the Linux Foundation board!

  • Reply 13 of 55
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nht View Post


    They could just start with FreeBSD and Mach...


     


    And what can Linux do that Android could not against iOS?



     


    With luck create a mobile operating system that works as well as iOS must to be as popular as it is 


     


    Which is actually part of the joke. If Google hadn't let everyone and their uncle mess with the code, Android might be that OS. But they did and its not. And if this Linux based OS is treated the same way it likely won't be either. 

  • Reply 14 of 55
    applegreenapplegreen Posts: 421member


    The title should read 


     


    "Samsung invests $500K in Linux Foundation to battle Android."


     


    I think Samsung will abandon Android since Google is also now in the smartphone hardware business.  Samsung will copy Apple and develop its own smartphone OS.

  • Reply 15 of 55
    ezduzitezduzit Posts: 158member


    1/2 a million isn't enough to pay for lunch.  either it's a mistake or it's not worth the


    paper its written on.


     


    linux surely hasn't taken over the world with a who's who bunch of partners.

  • Reply 16 of 55


    Apologies. Business Insider first reported the fee as $500M, however it has since updated that number to $500,000. The change is reflected in the AI article.

  • Reply 17 of 55
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    dlux wrote: »
    Boy, 500 billion dollars is a lot just to get a seat on the Linux Foundation board!
    Yeah wow... half a trillion!

    (Spammy-- time for $500T)
  • Reply 18 of 55
    hiker275hiker275 Posts: 53member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dlux View Post


    Boy, 500 billion dollars is a lot just to get a seat on the Linux Foundation board!



    It's not $500 BILLION.... it's only a half trillion.

  • Reply 19 of 55
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    aaarrrgggh wrote: »
    So is that four different OSs that Samsung is pushing? That seems like a strategy that will kill them. They have pushed Android so long that people associate them with it-- when they need to buy a new phone and the Samsung phone they want runs Bada, WinMo, or Tizen... are they going to look at a competitor?
    They should push something, but I would imagine they would be much better served with a BSD license that they can control and not release back to their competitors.

    Yep. Samsung still hasn't figured out how to focus. And we thought Android fragmentation was bad.....

    applegreen wrote: »
    The title should read 

    "Samsung invests $500K in Linux Foundation to battle Android."

    I think Samsung will abandon Android since Google is also now in the smartphone hardware business.  Samsung will copy Apple and develop its own smartphone OS.

    That's entirely possible. Smartphone manufacturers must be very nervous now that Google is competing with them.
  • Reply 20 of 55
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member


    Uh oh.  So now Samsung is betting not only with Windows and Android, but with their own flavor of Linux?  I they see the writing on the wall.  This might Samsung's only way to go after to iOS because  they probably know that Google may not have a very good road map and it is a fragmented platform and that Windows won't be anything that will go against iOS, so they develop their own OS.  Talk about confusing everyone.  

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