Samsung exec says company isn't entering OS wars

SEATTLE--A Samsung Electronics executive speaking at the Mobile Future Forward conference here downplayed his company's role in the operating system wars and reiterated that Samsung's bada platform is primarily geared to low-end smartphones in Asia.

Kevin Packingham, chief product officer at Samsung, was responding to comments made by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) CEO Lowell McAdam, at an investor conference last week in which he said that Samsung might be the "elephant in the room," meaning that Samsung could use its muscle to create a strong third mobile platform to counter Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android. McAdam and other carrier executives have repeatedly said they would like to see a strong third platform emerge.

"That's not core to Samsung's strategy," Packingham said. "Isolating Samsung and focusing on the vertical integration is not something we see as a way to be successful." Instead, Packingham said the company is more focused on collaborating with companies such as Intel on the Tizen HTML5 platform.

Packingham also said that he's confident that Google is not playing favorites to Motorola Mobility, its newly acquired device subsidiary. As a major supporter of Android, Samsung's Packingham said that Google has been very deliberate about separating the two groups and that he believes nothing has changed. He also compared the relationship to Samsung's component division which does not play favorites with Samsung's device division. "I would love to have some of the component technology for our products because they are a huge differentiator," Packingham said. "But we serve multiple customers. I got some insight into the roadmap but I have no control over where it goes."

Packingham commented briefly on the recent verdict in the controversial $1.05 billion patent lawsuit that Apple won against Samsung. Packingham noted that it is very troubling, and said that innovation has always allowed for people to leverage the capabilities created by others. He said he hopes that the verdict doesn't make other companies afraid to try new things.

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