Samsung to focus on low-end Tizen phones, ditch Samsung Z?

Samsung's smartwatches might be chugging along nicely on Tizen, but the company has failed miserably at bringing a smartphone powered by its in-house OS to market. The Samsung Z was recently announced as the first commercial Tizen phone, but its launch was delayed and the phone is still stuck in limbo. Now, sources talking to TizenExperts suggest that Samsung might be looking at ditching all plans to launch the high-end Samsung Z, and focusing on budget phones running Tizen in order to challenge companies like China's Xiaomi (which recently overtook Samsung as the number one smartphone maker in its home country.)

Focusing on low-end phones sounds like a good strategy for Samsung. Its Android phones are ill-suited for budget devices thanks to the heavy nature of Samsung's software, so instead of wasting time racing to the bottom with Android, it would be a good move to use Tizen to capture the burgeoning budget smartphone market instead, especially since Tizen is designed to run on devices with as low as 256 MB of RAM. Developers will probably not like the new direction as users of low-end devices are less inclined to spend money on apps and services, but it would give Samsung a nice chance to give Tizen the boost it so desparately needs in the highly competitive smartphone market.

What do you think about this supposed change in strategy for Tizen? Do you think the move to focus on low-end devices is the right one to make, or do you think Samsung should launch Tizen devices in all segments to offer the same choice it has with its Android phones?

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