Number of Member Companies in Tizen Alliance Decreases from 10 to 4

The Tizen Alliance, which was established by Samsung and Intel to develop the third operation system (OS), is tottering as its key member companies are leaving the alliance one after another. Although there were more than 10 board members of the board of directors at the beginning, there are only 4 left now. Apart from Intel, they are all Korean firms.

According to industry sources on May 18, the current official board members in the Tizen Alliance are Samsung Electronics, Intel, SK Telecom and LG U+. Japan’s Fujitsu left the board, while KT, NTT Docomo, Orange Telecom and Huawei withdrew from the official board members to advisory board members.

Tizen is the next-generation OS developed by Samsung Electronics and Intel from 2012. The OS was known as a mobile OS which can vies with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android at the beginning, but it has ultimately seeking to become a comprehensive open source platform which connects various devices, such as smartphone, tablet, smart TV, wearable and cars, based on the Linux.

Japanese companies which were the most passionate at the early stage of the founding changed its stance. NTT Docomo served as a co-chairman in the early days of the Tizen launch and was the most enthusiastic member, but it currently shows no activities. NEC, an early board member, also left the alliance in 2014.

Huawei, which leads the Chinese market, is also rarely participating in. An official from Huawei said, “The company is not taking part in the Tizen OS at the moment. This is largely due to the fact that Huawei changed its direction with its self-developed OS.” Huawei unveiled its OS for the Internet of Things (IoT) last year, focusing on the development of its own OS.

Unlike the past, Intel is also lukewarm over the participation. Intel changed its Tizen manager four times until now and its position level downgraded from the vice president level at the beginning to the director level now. Industry watchers believe that Intel is unlikely to use Tizen as it is also developing its own IoT platform.

Samsung Electronics is struggling by himself to get the Tizen Alliance on its feet again. The company, which is expanding the Tizen OS to wearable and smart TV as well as smartphone, plans to expand its application further to in-car infotainment system to smart phone.