SYDNEY: Samsung and Microsoft announced that the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will come ready with Microsoft’s OneNote note-taking app, One Drive cloud storage and Skype.
The two companies were poised to become bitter rivals just recently, when Microsoft sued Samsung over Smartphone copyright and bought Nokia’s mobile division. Industry watchers are labelling the collaboration “sleeping with the enemy.”
Industry watchers say Microsoft stands to gain more than Samsung from the deal as its apps have been sidelined by Apple and Google products.
Samsung decided to collaborate with Microsoft, because the success of the Galaxy S6 is crucial to the firm’s future. The mood at Samsung is tense ahead of the release.
Despite international media acclaim of the S6, Samsung fears it may walk down the path of the ill-fated S5, which sold poorly and was outstripped by the iPhone.
A Samsung staffer sounded less than enthusiastic. “We were criticized for not forming enough strategic alliances when we launched the S5 because we were too confident about the product,” he said. “But we can’t afford to be picky this time.” The uneasy alliance highlights intense competition in the global Smartphone market, analysts say.
