????三星（Samsung）依賴谷歌（Google）的安卓操作系統已經賺了很多錢。那么三星為什么還要反復嘗試構建自己的操作系統呢？

????三星可以免費在其Galaxy系列手機、Note系列平板和其它相關設備上安裝安卓的開源系統。三星相當于把規劃未來功能、確保系統安全和維護應用市場（谷歌的官方應用市場Play Store已經擁有150多萬款應用）的任務都丟給了谷歌。最妙的是，三星還能從谷歌的移動廣告收入中分一杯羹。

????那么三星為什么還要大費周章去構建自己的操作系統呢？因為它能做到。

????三星已經多次嘗試發布運行Tizen系統的手機了，Tizen是三星與英特爾（Intel）共同開發的系統。三星在這個過程中也做過不少承諾，如許諾在它的高端旗艦機型上使用Tizen系統等等。不過就在上周，三星發布了一款旨在進軍印度等新興市場的低端Tizen手機——這相當于承認盡管付出了不少努力，但是Tizen還是缺乏吸引力。（三星和谷歌都沒有就此給出評論。）

????科技界早就在質疑Tizen項目的魅力。一方面，移動設備市場很大程度上是由蘋果的iOS和谷歌的安卓主宰，微軟（Microsoft）的Windows Phone和黑莓（Blackberry）的BlackBerry OS只能遠遠落在后面亦步亦趨。如果有一個強勢的老三，必將提高市場競爭程度，激勵進一步的創新。而三星作為在全球范圍內大獲成功的設備廠商，可以說是一個最合適的人選。

????ABI研究公司移動設備、內容與應用高級業務總監杰夫?奧爾指出：“如果說有人能成功構建第三大生態系統，那一定是三星。他們能生產自己的CPU、調制解調器、顯示器、軟件……因此他們擺脫谷歌也是說得通的，而不是繼續把自己拴在自己無法控制的東西上。”

????另一方面，之前一些曇花一現的操作系統（如命運多舛的Palm OS）也沒能打破iOS和安卓的雙頭壟斷。據市調機構IDC估算，全球使用iOS和安卓以外的其它操作系統的設備還不足5%。那么作為韓國電子巨頭的三星，真的認為市場上還有足夠的空間再容納新的系統嗎？

????大家可以思考一下Windows Phone的困境。微軟的規模也不小了，但是它的WP系統只占據了美國的市場的3%，在全球市場上的占有率甚至還低于這個數。其它移動操作系統商的命運也都大同小異，比如Pam、收購Palm后的惠普（HP）、諾基亞（Nokia）、黑莓還有少數其他幾家。

????因此，搭安卓的便車似乎是一種合理的做法。不過盡管谷歌的操作系統是免費的，但是它并非沒有限制。比如谷歌自家的應用和它的Play Store必須要預裝在手機里；像三星這樣的廠家必須與谷歌簽訂“移動應用分銷協議”，在協議中，谷歌對其合作伙伴生產的每一部安卓手機都有明確的要求。

????其中包括：

????? 谷歌將是設備上所有“連接點”的唯一搜索引擎，除非用戶自己下載了其它替代應用。

????? 谷歌的搜索欄要被放置在手機或平板電腦主頁的最頂端。

????? 必須有一個名叫“谷歌”的文件夾，里面包含大量谷歌的應用，比如Gmail等常用應用。

????Samsung has made a lot of money selling smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system. So why is Samsung trying again (and again, and again) to build out a competing operating system?

????Android, which is open source, is free for Samsung to install on its Galaxy phones, Note mini-tablets, and other connected devices. It allows Samsung to outsource to Google the concerns of planning of future features, locking down security, and maintaining a marketplace, the Play Store, with more than 1.5 million apps. Best of all, it actually earns Samsung a cut of Google’s mobile advertising revenue.

????So why would Samsung bother with its own operating system? Because it can.

????Samsung has tried many times to launch a phone running Tizen, an open-source operating system it is co-developing with Intel. It has made many promises along the way, such as using the OS for its high-end flagship devices. This week, it revealed that it would instead chase low-end devices in emerging markets such as India—an acknowledgement that, despite its efforts, Tizen lacks traction. (Neither Samsung nor Google responded to requests for comment.)

????The technology community has long questioned the merits of the Tizen project. On one hand, the mobile devices market is largely dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, with Microsoft’s Windows Phone and the BlackBerry OS trailing far behind. A strong third player would heighten competition and spur further innovation, and Samsung—a massively successful manufacturer of devices around the globe—is best positioned to be it.

????“If anyone can succeed at building that third ecosystem, it’s Samsung,” said Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices, content, and applications at ABI Research. “They make their own CPUs, modems, displays, software . . . it makes sense they would have a strategy to move away from Google, rather than locking themselves into something outside their own control.”

????On the other hand, previous operating systems (such as the ill-fated Palm OS) failed to disrupt an apparent duopoly. Less than five percent of smartphones around the world use operating systems that aren’t Android or iOS, according to estimates by IDC, the market research firm. Does the Korean electronics giant really think there’s room for one more?

????Consider the plight of Windows Phone. Microsoft MSFT -1.48% , no mom-and-pop shop, has just 3 percent of the U.S. market and even less share globally. Or perhaps consider the mobile OS remainders bin: Palm, HP (after buying Palm), Nokia, BlackBerry, and a handful of others.

????So hitching oneself to Android seems sensible. Yet while Google’s operating system is free, it is far from without constraints. For Google’s own apps and its Play Store to come pre-installed on a phone, companies like Samsung must sign “Mobile Application Distribution Agreements” that dictate requirements that Google GOOG 0.50% has for every Android phone and tablet that ships from its partners.

????Among them:

????? Google will be the only search engine used on the device at all “access points” unless the owners themselves download alternatives.

????? Google’s search bar will be at the top of the foremost home screen on the phone or tablet.

????? A folder labeled “Google” containing a large number of Google’s apps and prominent placement of certain apps such as Gmail.