Samsung’s Bid to Swap Google with Bing on Smartphones Put on Hold

Citing sources with the matter, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Samsung has put a stop to an internal review exploring the possibility of replacing Google with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine.

The review specifically focused on Samsung’s ‘Internet’ web-browsing app, which comes preinstalled on its smartphones, notes the report.

Had the switch occurred, it would have marked a significant victory for Bing in the search-engine market, which has long been dominated by Google.

Bing recently gained momentum by adopting the features of ChatGPT, the widely popular chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

Initially, Samsung believed that changing the search engine wouldn’t disrupt the status quo significantly, as most Samsung smartphone users prefer third-party browsers like Google Chrome, which also comes preinstalled on the devices.

However, concerns about market perception and potential impact on Samsung’s business relations with Google led the company to drop its plans, the sources said.

Samsung has been looking for ways to diversify its smartphone software and explore new offerings to reduce its heavy reliance on Google’s software, according to insiders.

The South Korean tech giant’s smartphones heavily rely on Google’s Android operating system. However, its smartphones directly compete with Google’s Pixel phones in the Android market.

According to Statcounter, Google accounts for approximately 93% of searches on computers and mobile devices, whereas Bing only accounts for around 3% of searches.