Samsung looking to open Gear S2 to iOS after adding support for non-Samsung Android devices
Luke Johnson / Digital Spy :
Context & Ripple Effects
Days after announcing the Tizen-based Gear S2 with non-Samsung Android support, Samsung is reportedly weighing the bigger unlock: an iOS version of its companion software. The move follows Google's own reported plan for an Android Wear companion app that would let Android watches pair with iPhones, which set the expectation in late 2015 that no major smartwatch would stay locked to one phone ecosystem.
For Samsung, the calculus is straightforward — its watch line competes against the Apple Watch on iPhones, so every month of iOS exclusion shrinks the addressable market to Galaxy owners alone.
First-order effects
- iPhone users become a live target market for the Gear S2 instead of a closed-off segment, letting Samsung sell hardware into Apple's install base without building a phone.
- Samsung's own Galaxy exclusivity advantage disappears as a selling point for its phones, since the watch no longer requires one.
Second-order effects
- Apple faces watch competitors marketing directly at iPhone owners, pressuring the Apple Watch's differentiation toward services like Apple Pay rather than mere availability — a contest Samsung was already entering with Samsung Pay's rollout on the Gear S2.
- Rival wearable makers lose the 'works with your phone' wedge against Samsung and must compete on design, battery, and price instead.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, wearables decouple from handset ecosystems entirely, shifting competitive structure from phone-brand accessory moats to standalone device brands judged on their own merits.
- Platform holders' leverage migrates from hardware pairing to software services and payments, deciding which watch ecosystems can monetize users across both iOS and Android.
The trend: Smartwatches are moving from phone-locked accessories to cross-platform devices, with Google's Android Wear-iPhone bridge and Samsung's iOS ambitions marking the end of ecosystem-exclusive wrist wear.