Samsung today launched its Wave smartphone in the UK and France, less than a week after the device was introduced in Germany. The Wave runs a proprietary operating system called Bada, which Samsung debuted at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year. Samsung has previously stated that over 50 percent of its new smartphones would run on Google’s Android platform, so not only is Bada competing with one of the fastest-growing operating systems in the world, but it means Samsung is now competing against itself as both its consumers and developers will be forced to choose between the two OSes. Maybe Samsung should look closer at the Bada name because the first three letters indicate what kind of idea this is: B-A-D.
It brings to mind an early “Battlestar Galactica” episode in which the then-newly sworn-in President Roslin tries to temper the wish of Commander Adama to continue warring against the Cylons, which had nearly exterminated the human race in a single day. “The war is over,” says Roslyn. Same goes for the mobile platform battles: the top smartphone ecosystems of iPhone, Android and BlackBerry have won.
The shame of it all is that Bada looks like a solid smartphone environment and the Wave device appears potent — the phone runs on a 1GHz chip with an 800×480 resolution AMOLED display and can record video in 720p high-definition. Based on specifications alone, the Wave competes well with the latest and greatest handsets on the market.
But features and specifications by themselves won’t win any wars; ecosystems and developer traction are also required. To that end, Samsung provided a beta version of its Bada SDK to developers earlier this month and will sell apps through a Samsung Apps store. The company is also offering a $2.7 million prize pool to Bada developers in an effort to quickly ramp up the number of software offerings. But its big three competitors already offer more than 250,000 applications combined, and while not all of those titles are what I’d consider “quality applications,” there are more than enough solid software selections to keep people happy.
I’m not suggesting that there will never be another mobile platform that can compete with or dethrone the current incumbents. Instead, I think any new and successful effort will require a unique, fresh approach both for consumers and developers. I don’t see why a developer would create applications for Samsung through Bada when it could create software using Android for Samsung phones and many other handsets as well.
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Kevin,
You might want to take a look at Antony Edwards’s post on Vision Mobile about Samsung’s Bada. It provides some really interesting insights into the mobile phones market – where the hype is (=smartphones) and where the mass market is (=featurephones).
Bada is a featurephone, so it is sold in a lot larger quantities that smartphones. Having operating systems for smartphones that have development platforms and application stores make a lot of sense, especially when both Apple and Google aren’t there.
Tsahi
Thanks for the link, Tsahi – it is a good read about the declining margins and what OEMs are faced with.
We are only at the beginning of the smartphone wars, Kevin. Proclaiming winners now is like proclaiming the winner of the World Series in game 1, top of the second inning.
Brian, I hear you and alluded to that in the final paragraph, but that’s only part of the issue here. How will Samsung convince developers to create apps for Bada on Samsung phones over Android on Samsung (and many other) phones?
I assumed that Samsung was providing the nerd/tech world with a great joke. Bada-bing (Bing?) Bada-boom!!!
I agree that Samsung will probably use Bada for feature phones, at least until they get some traction. I think they are trying hard to stay more than just an OEM partner for Google or Microsoft, but a strong player in mobile.
I don’t get it. What makes Bada more suitable for feature phones than Android? Android is free, has tons of apps, so what gives?
There’s something else going on here, it’s the dream of every major manufacturer to have their own OS. Samsung has probably enough cash to risk developing Bada and see if it works (very, very probable not).
Control. As you put it, it’s every major manufacturer’s dream of having their own OS – and (as I mention above) to not be an OEM partner for Google or Microsoft. The link Tsahi gave talks about this as well. I definitely agree that it probably won’t work out for Samsung though (at least not in the near future).
Sorin,
There’s another reason – differentiation.
With Android, all phones look and act the same. Bada allows Samsung to stand out of the crowd – assuming they play it right and implement Bada properly.
Yes, I know, differentiation, but you can do that very well with Android. MOTO, SE, HTC, all do it (some better than others, but thats a matter if taste). After all most people have no idea what their phone is running (android, Bada, whatever) they just care about what it can or cannot do, so developers and ecosystems make the difference.
My original comment was in regard to opinions that Bada is targeting feature phones and I don’t understand why android isn’t (more) suitable for that.
“the top smartphone ecosystems of iPhone, Android and BlackBerry have won.”
Oh Kevin, let’s not have that argument again. Nokia won that battle a long time ago.
Funny!
Same thing I said, but funnier and with fewer words.
And Samsung also makes Symbian phones. The Wave is being introduced in Europe with no U.S. launch mentioned. I guess no one has the courage to be realistic about market share are real viability.
BADA is the only mobile OS other than iPhone that has a C API.
The C API on Android is closed. You can only run Flash and Java applets on Android. You can only run Java on Blackberry.
The reason you see so few iPhone apps ported to Android is there’s no way to port them. So BADA at least is setup to get iPhone ports.
This is incorrect, you can write native (C) code in Android.
And why is everyone saying Bada is for feature phones? From what I have seen it will do everything Android does.
This is a smart move by Samsung, you should never rely entirely on Google.
Because Android will eat into Samsung market going forward. Nameless, faceless entities will emerge, buy a reference design from someone in Taiwan, put android on top, and threaten Samsung’s world domination.
Because Samsung is a first-division player. Not a nameless, faceless entity that will stand in line for free soup. Within Samsung, there will be an ambition to differentiate and synergize their product offerings – probably, includes the creation of a common app store concept covering all Samsung devices – Phones, TV, Blu Rays, what-have-you.
Expect Sammy to push Bada (if it has potential) all the way. And push out Android from their range in a year’s time. Symbian will be next. Meaning, Bada will grow into the smart phones first while low-end phones grow up until they are big enough to run Bada.
Of course, only if Bada can live up to its corporate expectations.
And don’t worry about apps. Sammy has all the 3Ms (market, money, muscle) needed to get the most interesting apps done on Bada.
By what measures are some of you concluding that the Wave is a feature phone?
Put your perceptions aside and look at what it offers. Samsung’s biggest hurdle with Bada will be people’s perceptions.
…further… how exactly is Bada a feature phone OS?
[...] I’m not knocking it; I just wouldn’t bet my money on it, because without visual feedback–VR over-lay glasses or something–I don’t have a use for gesturing. At first glance, hanging out there, it sounds like Bada-ware [...]