Samsung And Microsoft Are Bridging Their Ecosystems For Better Interoperability
In Big Tech, strategic partnerships can lead to new opportunities to open up markets and increase revenue. It can also bring together the best minds in the industry to develop cutting edge products. Two giants in tech, Samsung and Microsoft, have expanded their partnership in 2020. For consumers this can greatly improve integration of Samsung smartphones with Microsoft’s Windows operating system and associated devices.
For Microsoft, this is another opportunity into the smartphone and mobile market. This was something they had missed with the Windows Phone’s market failure. This time around, Microsoft is providing integration for Samsung’s smartphone line up from the flagship Galaxy Note and their budget models. This partnership started in 2019 as a way to bridge the Android smartphone world closer to the Windows desktop. This brings more interconnectivity and interoperability between a smartphone and computer running the Windows operating system.
What is strategic about this partnership is that they both have a product ecosystem used by millions of users on billions of devices around the world. Bridging them together allows even better support for consumers to use products that they are already familiar with rather than purchase another brand. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Windows 10 running on your laptop, interoperability allows consumers to do more things with their devices. Apple already has an existing ecosystem that allows the iPhone to connect with the Mac computer line. However, the iOS and macOS do not seamlessly interconnect. You cannot run a native iOS app on a Mac running macOS (as of summer 2020). They require the correct version of the app. This is an issue that Apple is addressing with the new Apple Silicon architecture.
The Android operating system on Samsung’s smartphones was actually developed by Google. This integration can also benefit Android phone users regardless of brand (e.g. LG, Huawei). A greater reach to most Android phone users with the ability to connect to a Windows computer can bring more demand for Microsoft products like the Surface as well as benefit computer vendors like Dell and HP who use the Windows operating system. Vendors who make ultrabooks and premium laptops that run Windows can also develop apps for this type of integration. Samsung may not see it that way though since this partnership could also be another way to move away from reliance on Google.
Good News For Gamers
One ecosystem Samsung integrates with is Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console.
According to the Microsoft blog:
“With Xbox Game Pass on your Samsung Galaxy, your Xbox games are always in your pocket.”
Not only that, there is the potential for Samsung users to access Microsoft’s xCloud gaming platform for playing games directly on their smartphone. This is anywhere and anytime access for gamers.
Systems Integration
Microsoft allows Windows users to access their smartphone’s Android apps. This integration aims to make it easier with the Window’s Your Phone app and Link to Windows. This allows direct interaction with mobile apps on the Samsung smartphone to run in a Windows environment wirelessly using Wi-Fi. A type of mirroring of the smartphone opens up in Your Phone and launches in a separate window.
These features bring convenience to users who have to work between different devices. Most people work on their desktop PC every day, so the convenience of having smartphone integration makes it easier to transfer information like photos, documents and notes from one device to another.
Productivity And Mobility
Microsoft is best known for their productivity products like Office 365. Bringing this to the mobile world on smartphones allows users to work with Microsoft products on the go. This is already possible with Android smartphones running a version of Microsoft’s apps. With more integration, users can also switch between their smartphone and desktop or other devices. The next version of these products will allow synching up with Samsung apps as well.
Microsoft is extending the apps with support from Samsung devices like the Galaxy Watch. With support for Office 365 and other productivity products, Samsung users will have access to important information on their Outlook e-mail, OneDrive storage, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
The Answer To Apple And Google
The Samsung and Microsoft partnership is the answer to counter the influence of Apple and Google. They now have their respective ecosystems, but integration appears to be the motivation driving product development. Samsung, although it uses Google’s Android operating system, is moving in a direction away from too much reliance on the tech giant. Samsung has developed its own operating system Tizen, which for now is not the main OS used on their smartphones but the plan can be to replace Android when the time comes.
Samsung also has developed Bixby, their own virtual assistant app alongside Android’s Google Assistant. If Samsung were intent on staying with Android, why would they even bother to develop their own? Samsung bought the company of the original Siri developers to build Bixby. With their own OS and virtual assistant, Samsung can replace Android as the features improve. Samsung can then become more exclusive with Microsoft when developing products which don’t need to benefit Android.
With different ecosystems, consumers will have more choices. For Samsung, that means an expansion into the business and home computing market. Businesses that use Windows in the office may want to lock in contracts with telecom providers to purchase Samsung’s smartphones for their enterprise. Home users will also consider Samsung smartphones with their existing Windows setup because of simpler integration. Perhaps this may not entice consumers who are already locked into Apple or Google’s ecosystem due to brand loyalty or because these users have been using those products for a long time. It is the market of users who are not currently locked into an ecosystem who the tech giants will compete for.
