Tizen has taken the #4 mobile OS spot from BlackBerry

While the Samsung-centered have already been playing around with Tizen for some time now – arguably since the Gear 2 released – the world at large still has very little knowledge of the fledgling platform, if any at all. Still, great strides have been made in India, for example, where Samsung claims it has the country’s second largest mobile OS as far as budget devices goes. Today however, a milestone has been reported by Strategy Analytics, who has found that, as of Q3 2015, Tizen is now the fourth largest mobile OS, which puts it ahead of BlackBerry.

To many, this accomplishment might seem like a non sequitur given the appeal of Android, however at the very least it gives further insight into why BlackBerry is releasing an Android handset. Likewise, other challengers such as Firefox OS have been around for years yet have ultimately failed – so far – to make major movements.

On Tizen & BlackBerry

While the above chart reflects data accurate as of Q2 2015, the changes in market composition regarding BlackBerry OS and the “Others” category is unlikely to have altered significantly within the past few months. Most likely, there has been a 0.3%-0.5% shift, still less than a single percentage point. To this end, the “success” of Tizen is a relative one to say the least.

It is possible that Q4 data will indicate a slightly larger shift however, givent hat Samsung is preparing a major European roll-out for its Tizen-based Z3 with 11 different countries involved. Given that trends in Europe are changing these days, there is definitely potential for the new mid-range device to see some adoption. At the very least, it may appeal to those consumers who have grown tired of premium pricing for the Korean conglomerate’s more readily available flagships.

The news is also relevant given the other Samsung-related stories that have graced headlines this past week. One such story was no less than the OEM’s Vice Chairman and co-CEO proclaiming that the company has to make major changes to survive: the eventual, larger success of Tizen could ultimately stem into a much larger money making enterprise, especially given that the ultimate goal is to use it on a host of different lifestyle products and appliances.

Likewise, another big story this week was a bold claim that Samsung will be exiting the smartphone market within the next five years. While it’s a possibility to be sure, the rising success of Tizen would also serve as an indication as to why the Korean OEM would want to stay.

Still, perhaps the most significant aspect of this report is that BlackBerry has continued to slip in market share, something that not only makes the new Priv essential to the company’s business, but also underscores the nature of Waterloo’s recent and serious statement. Somewhat ironically however, even if new-found success is found via Android, it is clearly not going to help re-establish the OEM’s BB OS market share, rather it may ultimately see it decrease even more significantly.