Samsung's first Tizen smartphone gets certified in Japan, but its announcement may have been postponed

The first Samsung-made Tizen smartphone that’s expected to be commercially available seems to be the SC-03F, a handset that should be launched by NTT docomo (Japan’s largest mobile carrier). The SC-03F was approved by Japanese authorities recently, so you’d think that it could be released in the near future. However, Japanese media is reporting that NTT docomo postponed its official unveiling.

According to SankeiBiz, the announcement of the SC-03F was initially scheduled for January 16. Apparently, NTT docomo pushed back the announcement without saying why, although rumor has it that Tizen is simply not ready to make an appearance on a smartphone. Another reason for the delay might be the fact that Samsung and NTT docomo aren’t getting along too well after the carrier launched Apple’s iPhone 5S this December (previously, docomo had no iPhones in its lineup).

Other than the fact that it runs Tizen, little is known about the Samsung SC-03F. It’s not clear if it’s the same Tizen smartphone that Samsung is allegedly preparing to showcase at a pre-MWC event next month.

As we previously reported, Samsung does not plan to launch Tizen devices in the US, at least not while the new platform is still in its infancy. So Asia and Europe seem to be its target markets for the beginning.

sources: Soumu.go.jp (translated), SankeiBiz (translated) via Sammy Today, Blog of Mobile