Wanted: Apps for Galaxy Smartphones
As part of its efforts to strengthen its software capabilities, Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will be hosting a global competition to lure developers to create apps for its Galaxy smartphones.
As part of its efforts to strengthen its software capabilities Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will be hosting a global competition to lure developers to create apps for its Galaxy smartphones.
Just how much is Samsung willing to pay?
The contest will see 10 winners, who will receive a combined $800,000 in prize money. This isn’t the first time Samsung has hosted a global contest for android developers.
The company is particularly looking for apps that can be coordinated with Samsung’s ‘Group Play’ service. Group Play is a function highlighted on Samsung’s latest Galaxy S4 smartphone that allows users to share certain content such as photos, games and music at the same time and interact with one another.
“We will continue to encourage mobile developers to develop new and innovative applications with newly-launched features of our Galaxy series,” Won-Pyo Hong, the head of Samsung Electronics’ media solution center, said in a statement.
The move comes as Samsung is trying to maintain its dominant position in the global smartphone market. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung had a 33.1% market share in the first quarter, followed by Apple with 17.9%. But analysts estimate Samsung to be lagging behind Apple in the high-end market which is where the profit is.
Despite the many new functions of the Galaxy S 4 phone, the smartphone hasn’t received great reviews in terms of software, something that has been routinely cited as a weakness for the company when compared with Apple.
Samsung’s proprietary chat app called Chat On launched a couple of years ago has yet to show signs of any takeoff.
To be sure, Samsung’s strength has always been hardware manufacturing rather than software. But analysts say better software would certainly give the South Korean company a competitive edge.
Samsung is also pushing its proprietary security system for mobile devices, Knox. Earlier this month, the company said its Knox-enabled smartphones and tablets were approved by the U.S. Department of Defense for use by U.S. government and military officials.
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