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Samsung may be becoming too powerful for its own good. The #1 smartphone manufacturer holds over half the smartphone marketshare in the world, giving it the ability to call its shots. What could be the next big move? Rumors suggest Samsung may be looking into locking it’s third-party accessory support.
The rumor is that Samsung plans to plant chips in their accessories, which would allow the phone to recognize whether it is approved or not by Samsung. Only Samsung would be able to dictate if that charger, battery pack, battery or cover can be used with Samsung phones. Meaning only Samsung’s accessories and Samsung-approved third-party accessories will be available to Samsung customers.
The Good
This sounds like a disaster, but let’s look at what could be a good consequence to such decision. Ideally, your accessories and phone will work better. Ever heard of those scary battery explosions? They usually happen because of faulty and/or cheap third-party accessories. Not to mention, a lot of chargers can be slow, affecting the user experience.
This would ensure that your pockets have less explosions and Samsung’s pockets have more cash.
The Bad
Of course, we would say the bad definitely outweighs the good here. Because accessories would need to be approved, they would probably also raise in price. There is also the loss of convenience that comes with the standardization of ports and accessories. You wouldn’t be able to ask a buddy for his charger while staying over at his house, unless the have Samsung charger.
Do you think this will happen?
In a way, such a move would feel like Samsung is tabbing the Android ecosystem in the back. It would be similar to Apple and its proprietary accessories. That locked ecosystem we hate could become a huge part of Android.
I know I would not be down for this and I am more than ready to put my money where my mouth is. We are also sure many of our readers would be infuriated to see Samsung do something like this. Honestly, I doubt they will, but you never know. Would you be ok with Samsung (or any manufacturer, for that matter) do something like this?
Sammy y u do dis?
If they do, my relationship with them is over.
We may still be able to depend on the great XDA community to circumvent anything Samsung tosses our way. Screw them if they do go ahead with something like this. When there’s a will, there’s a way. XDA, FTW!
XDA certainly FTW, but not buying Sammy products, or at the very least, their accessories is the only way to let them know. It is our right as consumers, to vote with our wallets.
I don’t know what they are thinking of themselves. Samsung itself have always sucked balls with their accessories availability.
Better at releasing official accessories than Google with their Nexus stuff but I get what you mean.
Root your phone and use 3rd party accessories anyway. Unless they hard code and make proprietary connectors
This x1000. I root all my phones so I couldn’t care less.
my note 3 can’t be rooted (hopefully soon). :-(
N900K
How about no.
If this happens they will loose a lot of market share
Yet another reason why I will never buy another Samsung phone again.
No, we don’t need another Apple.
Most of my phones since 09′ have been Samsung products. If they do this, I won’t be very interested in giving them my money when I get tired of my One.
i wont believe it till i see it.
No loss. After owning the S3, S4, Note II I’ve moved on due to the same style year after year. Now happily using an Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra. Nothing like a snapdragon 800 to make me forget the S4
Every company has there own theme aka STYLE even year after year. Take a look at Apple.
So next year when Xperia Z2 Super Ultra Phone will come out, it will be based not far from the Z1 design and you will be again whining like a B*
NO actually I’ll be spending my money on another manufacturers flagship phone unlike you my third world friend who will probably be waiting for the Nexus 6 because you absolutely MUST have pure android.
Hmm, I like samsung, but this is way too “apple”. Not good.
I imagine this is to get around some of the knockoff stuff from china marked “Samsung”.
Still, super crappy and will discourage me from choosing Samsung going forward. Hey Samsung, people are not caught up enough in your ecosystem to warrant this. GOT IT????!!!!
Just rumors here, nothing has been made official.
A non-surprising move from the Korean Apple.
Would be a very, very bad move for them.
It’s cool, i’ve never owned Samsung and likely never will unless they happen to make another Nexus phone… but a galaxy phone with touchwiz? Nah you can keep that garbage.
You never had a Samsung and that means you’ve never tried Touchwiz however, you judge Touchwiz as garbage?
Wow, it looks like you are too gullible and chase rumors.
Do you know smart stay? Multi-window? Not to mention TW has many camera features like Animated photo, Eraser, Drama.. etc
The point is, use it first for at least a month then judge. Don’t be a slave of rumors.
…
A lot of chargers may be bad but there are chargers that may be good and cheaper and I want those.
If Samsung does this, my S3 is the last Samsung product I’ll ever own.
This will probably lead to another law suit from Apple, since they’re already doing this with the lightning connector.
If this happens …on to the next phone company …and no looking back..hey I might just get another iPhone ..if I need restriction
Loving my note 3! Thats all I gotta say.
This seems like something Apple would do.
I doubt this will happen. With such a great competition around, they will loose LOTS of customers. Just because a few bucks with the accessories? No, I don’t think so. That should be VERY stupid to do this.
OTOH, after seeing Nokia committing suicide trashing Maemo by Windows, I guess ANY stupid thing can happen in this world…
Samsung has been acting too high and mighty recently…. Louis XVI also acted too high and mighty….
Rise LG! Rise!
Maybe not to limit third party accessories but simply to “pair” Samsung branded items to dissuade the conterfeiters.Just a thought.
HTC One FTW
still not stopping me from getting the note 3 yo
True. But the Note 4 might have proprietary chargers and data cables. Prob will be separate cables and not the same as they are now with micro usb to usb. Sad day for Samsung fans.
My heart belongs to my Note2 (and 3 soon yay), I love them dearly.. but proprietary cables = iphone limitations and defeats the popular compatibility of the note line. I’m dubious this will happen, but what troubling thought.. Good for another year regardless tho, yay for that.
Well hopefully not, but Samsung is going down a dark road.
Really downvoted ? How is what i said not a possibility given the nature of the article and future implications. Dont downvote me because i said bad things about your precious Samsung. The article is spelling it out in plain enough terms. What i said is overwhelmingly possible.
This is just a RUMOR, till Samsung says something you can treat this RUMOR as just that a RUMOR, there is no real evidence this will actually hapen
I dunno, most of these “rumors” tend to be true
Don’t think this will happen. I don’t like being forced into buying what I’m told to buy.
Its a myth that products developed by the same company that makes the phone are “better” Its just a reason to make your own products that you can charge insane amounts for. I thought Samsung was better than this, i guess not.
Htc one deff not ftw lg g2 ftw the lg optimus g pro is good too.
Well, I was trying to decide between a Moto Droid Maxx and a S4. This seals the deal for the Maxx!
This seals the deal? Really? It’s a rumor you know. But if it did come true, it could definitely keep me from buying another Samsung phone.
My son’s both have have the Galaxy tab 2 with its stupid proprietary pin charger that sucks and also only 4gb internal storage I thought I would be able to send apps to the SD card but no Samsung has not updated the TAb2 so they are stuck with 4-5 games on it and when they want a new one they have to delete one. I will never buy another Samsung tablet unless it has standard usb charger and more internal memory.
dont care….im getting a nexus 5.
This will lead me to switch to Sony.
im loving the xperia z! they are moving the right direction!
My Co worker recently got one.
Love my ZR
How are those Android docks working out? Ford Sync? Aftermarket radio support? Home Theater receivers? These are some of the things that make Apple a lot of money, loyal fans and result in better quality accessories and user experience. I know you Android purists are not happy about this, but from a business standpoint, it kind of makes sense. Apple dominates the accessory market and not just products, but licensing the technology in the accessories. And honestly, people who would be upset with this are a very small percentage of Samsung consumers. The loss of your purchases will be made up in accessory and licensing sales. Samsung still wins!
There’s B.L.U.E.T.O.O.T.H. no need for stupid docks
Android still does use a proper bluetooth implementation, including avrcp, and bluetooth sounds terrible. Let’s talk chargers, wireless charging pads, covers, cases, alarm clocks…… Let’s talk about bluetooths power usage. Security concerns. Bluetooth has a ways to go.
“Let’s talk chargers, wireless charging pads, covers, cases” all been done already By Google (LG) and Samsung. No “special” case needed. “alarm clock?” Wtf? My phone is the alarm clock!
Ugh….you don’t get it. Carry on.
Sucks for them that LG is hot on their halls in regards to a great mobile product (G2)! I’d have no problem going elsewhere if they did that.
That’s a shame. I love Samsung, but not enough to be forced to buy chargers for $20. I have like 15 chargers between different rooms in different houses and in different cars. HTC and LG are making good flagships these days and it’s not even a question as to which one I would buy if they go that route.
I don’t see it as that big of a deal. I think only approving Samsung chargers will be a pain in the butt to many people as I love having an android phone, I can pretty much charge my phone anywhere I’m at. I don’t want to have a dead phone because a charger isn’t made by Samsung. Now, other accessories, like batteries and stuff, I don’t think it’s as big of an issue. Either way, I got rid of my S4 for a Moto X so I’m not worried about it for now.
Geez, Samsung. Its already a game of roulette to charge you’re devices with non-Sammy chargers. Making my switch back to Moto feel better each day.
If I wanted to be that locked down I would get an iPhone.
As long as Sammy keeps using removable batteries. Lock on!
You all do understand that there would still be cheap cables and chargers available, right? As much as the iphone is locked down, you can still get chargers for $1.
If the Chinese made a replica HTC One with removable battery and SD card, they can definitely bootleg proprietary cables and sell for cheap
Samsung has jumped the shark.
Samsung said?… no… RUMOR SAID.
You clearly mention it in the article.
Just the break that HTC was waiting for.
Well,I just bought a Note 3,and if Sammy keeps going down the path they are, I will just vote with my wallet. You will loose customers Samsung
Oh, Hi Apple. How are you?
This is the reason why I didn’t jump on the Note 3. I saw inklings of them headed down “the evil path”. And now this just reaffirms it. Vote with your wallet people, it’s the only way they’ll ever become humble; that or the Iron Sheik pays them a visit.
With HTC completely directionless, it seems like the only option left is either LG or Sony at this point. I’m not quite sold on Motorola yet, even though the X was a decent phone.
You kind have to love Samsung .
I don’t hate Samsung and I don’t love them, honestly in my usage multi window isn’t useful on a smartphone. Maybe on a tablets it is, I haven’t tried it there.
Their phones while still good, aren’t the absolute best like they used to be, they have a few good features and then a lot of bad ones that just get turned off.
HTC, Moto, LG, Sony all have compelling alternatives, and features that would entice some samsung fanboy’s away. If they cared to do the research.
Let the best phone win, forget brand loyality
I always take a look at all flagships. HTC and Moto are pretty lame compared to Sam, and recently Sony and LG. No phone can match the Note 3 specs AND functionality. Period. LG is on its way, nexus 5 and G2 are awesone phones, the G2 would be my next option. And I love the new Sony phones, Z1 and Ultra are beatiful, and I’m so jealous of the water dust proof feature. They are heading in the right direction. Maybe next year I’ll have a Sony or LG phone. They are not quite there just yet tho.
You miss the point, that’s all pure opinion, maybe I’ve just got poor eyesight but for me I don’t use multi window even though I have the feature. Moto and HTC both have distinguishing features that some may prefer. I know a lot of people who own samsung’s and never use the feature.
Do I think this will happen?
“Rumors suggest Samsung may be looking into locking it’s third-party accessory susupport” therefore NO
if samsung really plan being as bad as apple, my note3 is my final Samsung device.
I concur.
If samsung really tries to be like apple they are going to find the hard way when people stop buying their products. It’s not apple products that are bad but the people and company behind it that most hate and their ideals and ethics.
I’d skip over to LG or a nexus Tbh.
I guess it depends how far they want to go.
I have no issue with the phone only recognizing a Samsung battery, but all other 3rd party accessories should be fine.
Not sure why Samsung still has the lead it does. The other phone manufacturers have really gotten their acts together from what I can tell. At one point sure Samsung was more or less making better phones than most but now? It still amazes me how little research most people do when making a purchase of a couple hundred dollar device, going instead with “I remember this name”.
Sadly that’s what most people do with tech especially, because it confuses them.
That’s how apple and samsung sell so many devices, brand recognition pure and simple, the more confusing it is to the average joe, the better it works.
Most of these comments are really funny to me. First of all, it’s rumor to happen and completely guessing that accessories will become more expensive. In general you get what you pay for. Why is it bad that Samsung wants to prevent THEIR name from being drug through the mud because you want to buy cheap (aka not well tested) accessories? I mean really, the Chinese are willing to let poisoned baby formula and products painted with lead paint be sold and exported why wouldn’t they also sell exploding batteries?
It’s like a locked bootloader. I don’t mind as long as it can be unlocked with the understanding that I forfeit my warranty. Now I think the OS / Hardware should be layered better so that a user can’t overclock their CPU with a different OS build and thus we could eliminated that concern. I’ll take what I can get though.
Since I rock a Nexus, I could not care less. I’ll be laughing even harder once KitKat is released.
F U Samsung. If you do this Note 10.1 2014 will be the last device I’m buying from you (well, frankly just the second, but last). And I’m doing it because it was departure from your stupid wide connector towards industry standard micro-USB. Proprietary accessories are one of the reasons why I despise Apple.
I already buy only original accessories (HDMI adapter, USB OTG adapter, batteries, battery chargers) save for the car dock (Brodit ones are way better than anything else) but I would hate this move. It reeks of Apple…
I don’t see how they could do this with cases. without an approved case how would it tell if it was without a case or had a third party? as for doing this with chargers, I have no problems. I buy Samsung chargers anyway.
Agree.
Cases couldn’t be a part of this.
But battery, cables, chargers, back covers, screens, ….should be approved.
I support Samsung to make a list of approved third party suppliers. And to publish it. That will force the third party suppliers to do a good job.
Everything else to buy- to be on own risk .
That would suck, I was always happy with the way Samsung did business. The only way this would work is if first party accessories would be at a lower price because some first party accessories are ridiculously high and you can buy same / sometimes better quality third party of 1/2 or even 1/3 of that…
I strongly prefer the openness we now have. This restriction would push me away from future Samsung purchases. And to think I was planning on a Samsung 55″ TV for next year…Going “all Samsung” is no longer a thought.
I’ve got to think this won’t actually happen, especially by Samsung. They are the only manufacturer out there that still does consumer friendly things like have removable batteries and microSD slots nearly all of their devices.
Welcome to Apple for Android. Stupid move on their part. Maybe even more stupid than making a smart watch that ONLY works with a few of your own phones.
My Uncle Gavin just got a 9 month old Buick LaCrosse Sedan only from part time off a computer. look what i found www.JAM20.com
This is why I’ve refused to buy any Samsung product for the last 11 years. I had a Samsung cell phone with a proprietary headset jack and no bluetooth. Once the original headset was broken, it proved near impossible to buy a replacement headset.
I had started to warm up to the idea of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone when I upgrade my phone in January, but I will not if Samsung is considering this.