Samsung announces the first third-party TV makers to ship with its Linux-based Tizen OS in Europe and Australasia in 2022
Samsung has confirmed the first third-party smart TV makers to ship with its Tizen operating system (OS), with several manufacturers preparing to launch Tizen-powered TVs this year across Europe and Australasia.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung has run Tizen on its own sets since it committed the 2015 lineup to the platform — a bet made when Tizen was still unproven as a TV OS. Licensing it to outside manufacturers in Europe and Australasia is the next step: the OS stops being a differentiator for Samsung hardware alone and becomes a product Samsung sells.
The timing matters because the money follows the screen, not the set. Within months of this announcement, sources reported Samsung was shopping its free TV Plus streaming service to rival manufacturers — exactly the audience these licensed Tizen TVs create.
First-order effects
- The named third-party manufacturers get Samsung's smart TV stack — apps, updates, and store — without building their own, while Samsung gains software footprint on screens it doesn't make in two new regions.
- App partners already on Tizen, such as TikTok with its European TV rollout, see their addressable base extend beyond Samsung-branded hardware.
Second-order effects
- TV Plus becomes the obvious monetization layer: every licensed Tizen set is a pre-installed distribution point for Samsung's free streaming service, turning an OS license into ad-supported reach.
- Rival TV platforms face pressure to open up or bundle harder, since manufacturers choosing Tizen are effectively outsourcing their software roadmap — and their customer relationship — to Samsung.
Third-order effects
- If licensing holds, the TV industry splits into a handful of licensed operating systems competing for the access layer, with Samsung earning services revenue from competitors' hardware — the same structure that reshaped mobile after Android.
- Samsung's later moves, like the Google Photos partnership coming to TizenOS TVs in 2026, suggest the endgame is a services ecosystem whose value compounds with every non-Samsung set shipped.
The trend: TV operating systems are consolidating into licensed platforms, with Samsung converting Tizen's installed base into services and advertising distribution beyond its own hardware.