THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY, GLOBAL EDITION

Samsung Electronics Co.'s open-source smart TV operating system Tizen will be embedded in German premium TV brand Loewe’s latest model Stellar, further extending the South Korean tech giant’s Tizen licensing program.

The move will strengthen Samsung’s bid to challenge Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS not just in hardware such as TVs, home appliances and robots but also in the software segment amid the AI boom, analysts said.

“This is a significant milestone for the Tizen licensing program, which started in 2022 and is now rapidly growing in Europe and worldwide,” Samsung said.

Loewe, known for its luxury and high-end TVs, launched the Stellar premium TV across Europe on Monday.

Samsung said the Tizen OS would offer a wealth of content and service options, making it ideal for Loewe to expand its customer base.

With the Tizen OS, Stellar TV users will access a variety of features offered by Samsung such as Samsung TV Plus, a vast array of free entertainment channels and on-demand content; Gaming Hub, a gaming platform that provides an integrated gaming experience of over 1,000 titles; and SmartThings: a smart home connectivity device.

WIDELY USED IN NON-SAMSUNG SMART TVs

Tizen is a Linux-based, open-source web OS that supports various devices including TVs, mobile devices, home appliances and even signage.

In 2012, Samsung teamed up with the Linux Foundation to unveil the first version of Tizen, initially as a smartphone OS.

In its early years, Tizen wasn’t quite successful, pushed to the sidelines by Google's Android and Apple's iOS. In 2015, however, it began to be applied to home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators and washing machines, taking on a central role in connecting various products for a smart home environment.

The Tizen OS has since established itself as the software platform of choice for premium TVs, making exponential growth over the past decade.

As of the end of 2023, Tizen powered over 270 million Samsung smart TVs, up 440% from 50 million in 2015.

Samsung has been expanding its global presence through its Tizen OS licensing partnerships.

The Tizen OS licensing deal with Loewe is its 16th with a global TV brand following similar contracts with Australia’s Tempo, Turkey’s Atmaca and China’s HKC in 2022.

GROWING SMART TV OS MARKET

According to market research firm Omdia, Google ranked top in the global smart TV OS market controlling 39.1% of the market, followed by Tizen with 18.5% and LG Electronics Inc.'s webOS with a 10.8% share.

Samsung said its Tizen OS prioritizes security, safeguarding user data from external hacking through the Samsung Knox security system and automatically blocking unauthorized malicious apps and phishing sites.

Samsung’s crosstown rival LG Electronics vows to transform from a TV manufacturer into a content provider with its webOS content platform, which offers its smart TV buyers thousands of films and other streaming content for free.

LG said it expects over 1 trillion won ($722 million) in sales this year from its streaming service, LG Channels.

LG is also offering its automotive web-based operating system webOS to several global automakers, including Kia Corp.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.