Rumor: Samsung Z Scrapped?

Oh, Samsung. For the last few months, we’ve heard about the company’s idea for a high-end, Tizen-based smartphone called the Samsung Z. Most of what we’ve heard, however, has been mainly about the device’s ongoing delays in getting out the door, with the latest story coming directly from Samsung itself. Now, it seems that Samsung may simply be pulling the plug entirely, which is bad news for the nascent community of Tizen app developers.

According to a post on TizenExperts (via Neowin), “several sources familiar with the situation” say that Samsung is simply canceling the Z’s release. Instead, the company will focus on releasing other Tizen handsets falling under the “budget low to medium end.” Apparently two new smartphones – with the in-house labels of SM-Z130H and SM-130E – will be on the way from the company at some point in the near future.

The post speculates that the decision to pull support from the Z and refocus on lower-cost Tizen phones may be a response to the growing threat of Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, a company that’s been making a habit of selling low-cost Android phones with solid specs – with great results.

That makes some degree of sense, for sure. After all, Xiaomi is a legitimate contender in Asia. However, part of the goal with the Samsung Z appeared to be to advance Samsung’s efforts with Tizen. So far, the highest profile presence of the operating system is in its line of smartwatches. Having a higher end Tizen smartphone would have shown the company’s commitment to the OS, as well as the burgeoning community that’s backing it. Pulling support for the Samsung Z shows that Tizen might not really have a chance.

And that’s not much of a surprise, either. Android is plenty popular among those who can’t afford or don’t want to buy an iPhone. Microsoft’s Windows Phone is yet another alternative that hasn’t managed to earn much in the way of worldwide adoption despite coming from one of the most important tech companies on the planet. What hope could Tizen have as yet another challenger in the mobile OS market?

[Source: TizenExperts]