Samsung is planning to increase its production of smartphones running on its own Tizen operating system, according to a Reuters reports.
While not as popular as Android and iOS, smartphones running the Tizen operating system was well-received in India. According to Engadget, Samsung was able to sell 1 million Z1 smartphones in India since January. The device has also seen a steady rise in demand in other market including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Tizen is Samsung's open-source operating system based mainly on the Linux Kernet and GNU C Library. While the operating system is not used in most of Samsung's smartphones, majority of the company's smartwatches and smart TV's are already using the platform.
While most of smartphones running in the Tizen platform are aimed for the low-end market, rumors claim that Samsung considers to bring it to its high-end devices as well. The Tizen-based Samsung Z1 only costs $92.
Recent rumors claim that Samsung is already working for a follow-up to its Z1 and Z2 devices. The rumored devices are reported to sport a 960 x 540 display with 2000 mAh battery. Additional specs include a 1 gigabyte memory coupled with a quad-core processor.
While initial reports said that the device will be marketed exclusively in the Asian market, a different model designed for the global market is allegedly under development as well. This device is rumored to have higher specs compared to its Asian counterpart, these include a 4.8-inch display with support for 720 HD display.
Samsung recently expanded its Tizen-based apps to at least 182 markets including the United States, Japan and Mexico, according to CNet. This led many industry analysts to suspect that the company is aiming for a bigger market for its Tizen based smartphones as well.