Android Wear devices make up a big portion of the smartwatches sold every year, but this could change soon if rumors are true.
Tizen smartwatches have become a major competitor to the Apple Watch. Most of the demand for smartwatches running Tizen OS is due to the fact that the popular Samsung Gear S2 has it. With the Gear S3 also announced with Tizen in September this year, it appears that Samsung is happy with how the operating system is doing and is planning to invest more in its development.
Huawei seems to have taken note of the popularity of the OS on smartwatches and, according to rumors, the company is planning to use it on the Huawei Watch 2, which has not been officially announced. It's worth mentioning that last year's Huawei Watch is currently listed among the best Apple Watch 2 alternatives for iPhone owners.
International Data Corporation reported in July that Samsung was in the second spot when it came to smartwatch shipments, just behind Apple. This clearly indicates that the Tizen OS on the Gear S2 has found acceptance with a lot of customers. A recent report that emerged via Tizen Experts and quoted a South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo stated that Tizen could end up on the upcoming Huawei Watch 2 as the smartwatch's OS.
Tizen Experts went on to say that Huawei was one of the initial partners of the Tizen Association and is now considering working with Samsung, which has released several devices with the OS. However, there is no indication if the shift to using Tizen will see all future smartwatches from Huawei running on it or just one or two devices, such as the Huawei Watch 2.
Samsung has used the Tizen OS on smartphones like the Z1 and Z3 and even uses it on televisions. So the company would be the logical choice if Huawei is looking for a partner to help it create the Huawei Watch 2 with Tizen.
As for the Huawei Watch, it is considered to be one of the best looking Android Wear watches in the market, and it can also be paired with iOS devices like the iPhone. This is a major advantage that the Huawei Watch has and in case the next iteration switches to Tizen it is likely to lose. Currently, Tizen smartwatches like the Gear S3 and the previous Gear S2 cannot be paired with iOS devices but this could change in the near future.
Samsung has already launched an iOS beta program in South Korea to test the pairing of the Gear S2 with the iPhone, and if it is successful it would roll out to the Gear S3 as well. This could eventually lead to Tizen smartwatches pairing with iOS devices.
Android Authority, however, reported that an official spokesperson for Samsung has stated that Huawei has not contacted them about collaborating on an upcoming Tizen smartwatch. Therefore, any upcoming partnership between Huawei and Samsung in creating such a smartwatch is currently a rumor floating around on the internet.
