Samsung Fails to Launch its Tizen-based Smartphone in Moscow, Unsure of New Launch Date

Samsung once again gets cold feet when launching a Tizen smartphone

General consumers haven’t had much experience with Samsung’s Tizen mobile operating system. Tizen is currently shipping on Samsung’s Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches (the company also offered a Tizen OS upgrade for the original Galaxy Gear). However, most are awaiting the release of Tizen on the high-profile smartphone stage.

That moment was supposed to happen yesterday at a launch event held in Moscow for Tizen developers. However, Samsung backed out of its plans for launching the Samsung Z in Russia. Instead, Samsung issued a statement, which read in part, “the smartphone will appear on the Russian market later, when we can offer our users a fullest portfolio of applications.”

For developers that are actually trying to embrace the Tizen platform, this was definitely a setback, and likely not very encouraging. After all, this is the second time that Samsung has botched the launch of a Tizen-backed smartphone. Earlier this year, Samsung cancelled plans to launch a Tizen smartphone in Japan just days before it was supposed to go on sale.

But while the Samsung Z didn’t launch at the Moscow event, Samsung execs were on hand to extol the virtues of using Tizen. However, even company execs weren’t exactly brimming with optimism, with Samsung’s Dmitry Anosov stating, “The most obvious advantage [of developing for the Tizen phone] is that you’ll be at the top in a half empty store on a decent premium device.”

^{Samsung Z}

That “decent premium device” is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel processor (paired with 2GB of RAM) and includes a 4.8” 720p display. Other features include 16GB of storage space, a microSD slot for storage expansion, an 8MP rear camera, front-facing 2MP camera, and a fingerprint sensor. When Samsung first announced the smartphone in early June, marketing chief DJ Lee said that the Samsung Z would allow the company to “[Enhance] the mobile experience of consumers with innovation that is both personal and unique to their needs.” However, it now looks as though consumers will have to wait for an undetermined length of time to get their hands on Tizen. With no concrete date set for the Samsung Z’s launch, developers are still trying to stay optimistic. “Think of the potential Samsung can give you in a new store and the profit you could be making, while in the iOS and Android stores, your app would be drowning,” said Denis Khitrov, who is the COO for MedM. “If this train starts moving, there may be no stopping it.” Well, it’s time for Samsung to release the parking brake. 

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