The Samsung-Google partnership propelled the Android OS to Apple-beating levels-- but as the mobile industry gathers at MWC 2013, does the search company actually think of the Korean giant as a threat?
According to the Wall Street Journal the success of the Galaxy device portfolio makes Google nervous. An anonymous source claims Android head Andy Rubin believes "Samsung could become a threat if it gains more ground among mobile-device makers that use Android," and the recent Motorola Mobility acquisition was actually "a kind of insurance policy" against mobile device vendors becoming too powerful over Android.
The WSJ does not have a comment from Rubin or an official Google representative.
But shouldn't Google actually celebrate Samsung, the biggest smartphone vendor in the world, whose Android-powered smartphone shipments total 215.8 million units (or 39.6% of the global market according to IDC) in 2012?