Despite being one of the biggest Android smartphone manufacturers out there, Samsung has a few devices that run on Tizen. Up until now, Tizen powered smartphones have been available in select markets in Asia and it looks like the company is ready to expand the list to include more countries.
According to ETNews, the Samsung Z2 that supports 4G connectivity will be launched in 8 countries during the second half of this year. These countries include Kenya, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and Nigeria. Tizen is still a small OS and that is why Samsung is targeting developing markets. Its chances of succeeding in these markets is higher than other mature ones in Europe and North America.
Samsung is keen to take Tizen to other markets apart from those in Asia and it looks like Africa is right for that especially if you consider the fact that the company wants to do that with the 4G enabled Z2 smartphone. 4G penetration has just started picking up (at least for Kenya and Nigeria) and Samsung wants to capitalize on that with an affordable Tizen smartphone.
When launched, the Samsung Z2 will be the first Tizen smartphone from the company to support 4G connectivity. Even though Samsung has not officially confirmed its specs, it is expected to have an AMOLED display of an unknown size, 1GB of RAM and will come with Samsung’s S Bike Mode.
The Unique selling point of the Samsung Z2 will be the inclusion of a Remote Assistance feature. “It seems that Samsung Electronics to develop appropriate solutions for remote assistance to work from call centers in countries where Z2 will be released,” said a korean representative.
Besides this, Samsung is also believed to be using the expansion to Africa to lay the foundation for a testing ground for Internet of Things (IoT) based on Tizen for the African region before expanding to othr markets.
The Samsung Z2 will be launched sometime in October and that is when we will know what the company has planned for the African continent when it comes to Tizen. Even though Tizen is a good and promising OS, I personally don’t think it will be a game changer in the continent. Am not particularly excited with what it offers but I would love to see how it disrupts the market.
Read More: Tizen Displaces BlackBerry to Become the Fourth Largest Smartphone Platform
