Cracks Opening up in Alliance with Samsung

A concept rendering of Google foldable phone Pixel Foldable (tentative name)

An alliance between Samsung Electronics and Google against Apple is showing a sign of breaking down. Google has entered the smartwatch and foldable phone markets, invading Samsung Electronics’ business area.

IT tipster Ross Young said on Feb. 19 that Google was expected to start volume production of foldable phones in the third quarter for launch in the fourth quarter. Initially, Google was planning to release a foldable phone at the end of 2021 but gave up the plan due to its poor price competitiveness compared to Samsung Electronics’ foldable phones, industry sources say. In 2022, Google is expected to release the foldable phone at US$1,400 (about 1.67 million won), about 300,000 won cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (1,999,700 won).

Many experts expect Google's foldable phone to look like the Galaxy Z Fold. It will be an infolding phone with a 7- to 8-inch display and a cover display attached to the outside.

Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi have released foldable phones, but they were mainly for domestic use in China. Google is likely to enter North America and Europe, so Google and Samsung are expected to compete directly in the global premium smartphone market. Google’s smartphone market share is only 1 percent, but Google must have concluded that it is worthwhile to enter the foldable phone market, as it has just started.

In addition, Google launched the Pixel 6 series loaded with Tensor, a system-on-a-chip developed by Google, in October 2021. The chip combines the CPU with other capabilities. It seems to follow Apple, which has its own operating system, self-designed processor, products, and platform (App Store).

Google is also expected to unveil its first smartwatch, Pixel Watch, in May. Samsung Electronics and Google jointly developed Ware OS3, a smart watch-only OS, for the Galaxy Watch 4 in 2021. Samsung even gave up its own OS Tizen, which had been used for eight years, for the development and installation of Wear OS3.

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