Samsung Extends Tizen Smartphone to Bangladesh

[Alex]

Three weeks ago, the company released in India the Samsung Z1, its first smartphone powered by Tizen, a homegrown alternative to Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

 

This week, Samsung is pushing the Samsung Z1 into Bangladesh, a neighbor of India with more than 150 million people and a similarly low rate of smartphone penetration.

 

After several missteps and rethinks, Samsung’s strategy for its Tizen smartphones is taking a clear shape: the company is aiming the fledgling platform squarely at first-time smartphone users, many of whom may not even have a bank account. The Samsung Z1 is selling in India for about $90.

 

To that end, Samsung has been touting the “lightweight” nature of the Tizen operating system, meaning that it requires relatively little computing power and can handle most tasks without requiring pricey high-end specifications.

 

That same lightweight approach has also allowed Samsung to use Tizen as the platform for many of the devices it is hoping will populate its “connected home,” from televisions to smart watches and home appliances.

 

Despite concerns that Samsung’s new smartphone would face stiff competition in India, where several local handset makers are touting low-end smartphones — some of them in partnership with Google — Samsung says that its Tizen smartphones have received “positive responses” there.

 

Positive enough, it seems, to at least push Tizen into a second country.

 

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/02/06/samsung-extends-tizen-smartphone-to-bangladesh/

[Buymode]

How is Samsung's expansion of its Tizen-powered Z1 smartphone into Bangladesh targeting first-time smartphone users in the region?