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Samsung, SAP to ally on corporate use of Android

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Published : Feb. 22, 2012 - 11:20

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SAP AG and Samsung Electronics Co. are teaming up to make mobile devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system safer to use as corporate tools, according to people familiar with the matter.

SAP, the largest maker of enterprise-management software, and Suwon, Korea-based Samsung will present their plans next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, said the people, who declined to be named because the details aren’t public. The cooperation will include e-mail encryption as well as making handsets compatible with device-management systems that remotely update software and toggle phone functions such as switching the camera on and off, one of the people said.

The partnership is SAP’s first deal of this kind with a maker of Android phones and follows agreements with Research in Motion Ltd. for the BlackBerry platform and Apple Inc. (AAPL) for iPhone and iPad devices. Samsung, the second-biggest smartphone manufacturer behind Apple, is aiming to sell more handsets to corporate clients after the Android platform became the most popular operating system for smartphones.

“Companies need more pre-configured tablets and smartphones which comply with their advanced security requirements,” said Ulrich Trabert, a software analyst at Bankhaus Metzler in Frankfurt who has a “sell” recommendation on SAP. “Naturally, SAP is looking for a partner who is dominant on the Android platform.”

Spokesmen for Walldorf, Germany-based SAP and Samsung declined to comment.

Handset manufacturers benefit from the so-called consumerization of information technology, in which people use technology gadgets for both personal and work tasks, and as more companies allow employees to pick their mobile device of choice.

SAP added technology to help bring its software onto smartphones and tablets by acquiring Sybase Inc. in 2010 for $5.8 billion. Growth in revenue from mobile applications is part of the German company’s strategy to exceed 20 billion euros ($26.5 billion) in annual revenue in 2015.

Apple passed Samsung to become the world’s biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter on surging sales of its iPhone, researcher Gartner Inc. said this month. Google’s Android software ran on more than half of all smartphones sold.

Global sales of such handsets that use computerlike processors and can handle business e-mail and streaming video increased 47 percent to 149 million units, according to Gartner.

 

<한글 기사>

삼성, 보안 강화한 '기업용 안드로이드폰’ 개발중

삼성전자가 독일의 세계적인 소프트웨어 개발업체 SAP와 제휴를 통해 '기업용 안드로이드폰' 개발에 나섰다고 22일(현지시간) 이 사안에 정통한 복수의 소식통이 밝혔다.

소식통은 삼성전자와 SAP가 다음 주부터 스페인 바르셀로나에서 열리는 '모바일 월드 콩그레스(MWC) 2012'에서 이와 관련한 계획을 발표할 예정이라고 말했다.

소식통에 따르면 양사는 기업들이 기존보다 더욱 안전하고 편리하게 이용할 수 있도록 기업의 업무 환경에 맞춘 안드로이드폰을 개발 중이다.

이에 따라 두 회사는 이메일 암호화(인크립션•encryption), 원격으로 소프트웨 어를 업데이트 하는 단말관리 시스템, 실행이 간편한 카메라 등의 개발에 협력할 것으로 보인다.

SAP가 앞서 애플, 블랙베리 제조사인 리서치인모션(RIM)과 협력을 했던 적은 있지만, 안드로이드폰 제조사와 제휴하기는 이번이 처음이다.

전문가들은 "예전보다 높아진 기업들의 보안 욕구를 충족시킬 스마트폰에 대한 수요가 늘어남에 따라 SAP는 안드로이드폰 시장을 장악한 기업과 손잡고 싶었을 것"이라고 분석했다.

시장조사업체인 가트너의 최근 조사에 따르면 기업용 이메일과 영상 데이터를 전송하는 컴퓨터 대용의 스마트폰 판매율은 작년 4분기 47%가량 증가했다고 전했다.