Samsung’s own developer conference: A move to rely less on Google?

Samsung announced it will hold its own developers conference this fall, perhaps signaling that the South Korean giant is seeking to reduce its reliance on Google.

The conference was announced with a teaser website that says it will take place Oct. 27 through 29 at San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis Hotel.

The announcement is significant, considering Samsung and Google each have been essential to the success the other has found in the mobile world over the last few years. Samsung regularly outsells its rivals by enormous margins when it comes to smartphones, and Google’s Android operating system, used by Samsung, holds the largest market share for global sales of smartphones.

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But as Samsung has become the dominant manufacturer of Android devices, it appears that distrust has grown between it and Google.

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google had become wary of Samsung. The report said Samsung could use its leverage to demand special treatment from Google, such as receiving new versions of Android before its rivals or a higher share of online advertising revenue.

As a result, the report said, Google was hoping HTC or another of its partners could develop a device whose success would rival Samsung devices’. Google also has been developing devices of its own -- as well as through its Motorola division -- to keep Samsung at bay.

Meanwhile, Samsung has been broadening its product portfolio by working with other operating systems. It has released phones and tablets that run Microsoft software, and it has committed to selling smartphones running on Tizen, a new mobile operating system.

By announcing a developers conference, Samsung appears to be signaling that it wants to form relationships of its own with third-party developers.
For the foreseeable future, the Google-Samsung relationship appears to be intact, but both companies have been making moves to prepare themselves for a divorce in case it happens.

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