Samsung and Microsoft extend partnership with tighter integration of Outlook, OneDrive, Office, Your Phone in Galaxy Note10, more; Microsoft to sell Note10
Samsung is working with Microsoft to integrate Redmond's apps and services on the Galaxy Note 10 and coming Galaxy Book S devices as part of the pair's extended partnership.
ZDNetMary Jo Foley
Context & Ripple Effects
This extension is the next step in Microsoft's long-running strategy of buying mobile distribution through OEM bundles rather than its own phone platform: it preinstalled Office and Skype on Android devices with Dell, Pegatron, and regional OEMs in 2015, bundled its apps natively into Cyanogen OS the same month, and signed Samsung for Windows 10 IoT work in 2016.
The Note10 deal deepens that arc on both sides — Samsung gets Microsoft's productivity stack woven into its flagship, and Microsoft gets a retail channel, agreeing to sell the Note10 itself. The relationship proved durable: it was renewed for the Note20 a year later and extended again with foldable-specific Office and Teams work in 2021.
First-order effects
Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Book S ship with tighter Outlook, OneDrive, Office, and Your Phone integration out of the box, and Microsoft begins selling the Note10 directly — a hardware vendor becoming a storefront for a rival-ecosystem phone.
Second-order effects
Google's default app placement on Samsung flagships now shares the home screen with a full Microsoft suite, pressuring other Android OEMs to strike comparable bundling deals to keep their devices competitive on productivity.
Third-order effects
With the Note20 renewals and foldable optimizations that followed, the pattern points to Microsoft treating Samsung as its de facto Android hardware partner — app distribution on mobile consolidating around OEM preinstall agreements rather than app-store discovery.
The trend: Microsoft is building its mobile services footprint through recurring OEM partnerships with Samsung instead of a first-party phone platform.
Expanding our partnership with @Samsung to help people be more productive on any device, anywhere - bringing together our intelligent experiences with Samsung's powerful, new devices. https://blogs.windows.com/...
#SAMSUNG #DeX now works with USBC cable but more importantly with the #GalaxyNote10 it sports a new integrated experience thanks to #Microsoft #LinktoWindows starting with messages and content and adding calls by the end of the year pic.twitter.com/AFZU3hT23k
Microsoft and Samsung have been forming this partnership for months. It's very deep, and involves collaboration in retail, cloud, and devices. You'll notice in Microsoft Stores that products will be matched like this from now on https://www.theverge.com/... pic.twitter.com/Fr0To…
Samsung is working with Microsoft to integrate Redmond's apps and services on the Galaxy Note 10 and coming Galaxy Book S devices as part of the pair's extended partnership: https://www.zdnet.com/...
This is an EXCELLENT take. Two words not mentioned today: “Android” and (after the initial promo videos) “Bixby.” Also, so far, “Galaxy Fold” and “Galaxy Home.” https://twitter.com/...
Our partnership with @Samsung was one of the first things I worked on at Microsoft. Five years later, it's still going strong. Incredible to see how we've grown together and excited for what's ahead! https://twitter.com/...
Please show @Apple what it looks like to drive and #inspire real #innovation through #Collaboration rather than kill it with secrecy, scarcity and propriety. #leadbyexample #differencemaker
Samsung has announced the Exynos 9825 SoC, which could be powering the Galaxy Note 10 series in India and the other markets where the Snapdragon platforms are not used by Samsung. Here's how it differs from the Exynos 9820. https://www.anandtech.com/...