Samsung to roll out Tizen-powered smartphone in Jan.

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. is planning to launch the much-awaited Tizen-powered handset in January in India at a price in the US$100-range, industry sources said Sunday, a strategy that would help the tech firm compete with Chinese players in the low-end sector.

"The Indian telecom players expect a Samsung Tizen phone to be released by the end of January," one of the sources said. "While the price will likely be around 100,000 won (US$90.95), it may also be over 200,000 won."

Tizen is an open source operating system for smart devices being promoted by Samsung, Intel, Huawei and other global tech players. Samsung has been playing a leading role in the development of Tizen, which has been used in some of its wearables such as Gear smartwatches.

There have been rumors about the release of a Tizen-powered smartphone since last year. Japan-based NTT Docomo Inc. earlier planned to release a Tizen handset this year but delayed the plan, saying, "The Japanese market is not large enough to have three operating systems."

A high-ranking Samsung executive in India had said earlier that the company plans to launch the Tizen smartphone in November, but this also did not materialize.

Industry watchers said Tizen, if successful in the Indian market, will lend support to Samsung's low-end handset business as the smartphone penetration rate in the country stands relatively low at around 20 percent.

colin@yna.co.kr
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