Samsung to aggressively acquire Silicon Valley software company to strengthen mobile platform

Sina Science and technology news Beijing time of October 8 night, according to a Samsung internal documents show that the company plans to start mergers and acquisitions in Silicon Valley, especially those engaged in games, mobile search, social media and map services to improve Samsung's performance in Silicon Valley, and solve the software business of the short board problem. Samsung has become the world's largest smartphone maker with its highly attractive equipment, fast-listing and relatively low prices. But the market is growing in favor of software ecosystems, which are the strengths of rival Apple, Google and Microsoft. Samsung, a person familiar with the matter, said it had bid for Israel's mobile map services company Waze earlier this year but was eventually successfully acquired by Google in 1.1 billion dollars. Before that, Samsung had hoped to invest heavily in Waze to forge a partnership. In addition, Samsung has targeted acquisitions in Silicon Valley. Samsung plans to start acquisitions in Silicon Valley, especially those engaged in gaming, mobile search, social media and map services, according to company employees and an internal document. Samsung has evaluated several startups, including the San Francisco gaming platform Developer Unity Technologies, the California Santa Clara game controller and software developer Green throttle Games, and the game development pioneer Atari, according to a potential acquisition target document. In addition, Samsung is closely watching the Seattle start-up company Glympse, whose services allow users to share location-based information with their friends. Samsung has said that such services can be integrated into the user's local calendars and contacts, enabling personalization. People familiar with the matter said that Samsung had contacted Glympse for the first time in early 2012, hoping to invest in its stake, and negotiations are still ongoing. Last month, Glympse launched an app for the Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch. The document also raised two Israeli companies, respectively, for mobile search engine everything.me and rounds, the two companies are Samsung's potential acquisition targets. In recent months, Samsung has increased its investment in software, building research and development plants, investing in start-up software companies and recruiting many software engineers from rival companies. Industry insiders say the invasion of rival backyards is unusual for Samsung. Previously, Samsung rarely made acquisitions and was almost entirely independent. For example, about 90% of Samsung's products are manufactured in their own factories. Last year, Samsung invested 10.8 billion dollars in research and development, with 67,000 employees working to help Samsung maintain its leading position in the global television, semiconductor and home appliances market. But so far, Samsung's efforts in the mobile operating system market have not been successful. Mobile platform Bada failed in November 2009, Samsung launched the open source mobile operating system Bada, hoping to challenge Google's Android platform. But because of poor user interface and poor synchronization with other devices, Bada has not been recognized by consumers。 At the beginning of this year, Samsung, on the basis of Bada, is partnering with Intel to develop a new operating system Tizen, but has yet to launch a smartphone based on the new system. Industry insiders say that if the new platform Tizen can succeed, will reduce Samsung's reliance on Android. It can also withstand the challenges of China's rivals, such as Lenovo, Huawei and Millet. But this success is hard to guarantee, because unlike Apple, Google and Microsoft, Samsung has never done well in the software market. Industry insiders also said that, compared with self-development, through mergers and acquisitions into the software market is not an easy thing. Based on history, Samsung is doing just as badly. The the mid 1990s AST acquisition, for example, still casts a shadow over the minds of Samsung executives.