We picked up on a report yesterday which claimed that after helping Google integrate a part of KNOX in the next major release of Android, Samsung is going to end development of its security solution for mobile devices. The reason provided for this claim was that market uptake of KNOX came in at just 2 percent, below the company's expectations, which is why it would no longer divert talent and resources to KNOX.
The Forbes report didn't really make it clear what Samsung intended to do with KNOX, while it claimed that development would be stopped, it also said that perhaps Samsung would introduce KNOX as a feature in its Tizen smartphones. Moreover the report didn't cite any proper source which is why it seemed a little off from the get go.
Samsung has decided to release a statement in order to set the record straight. The company has reiterated its commitment to the KNOX platform and says that ongoing development will continue. A spokesperson for the company added:
Samsung is committed to the long term evolution of mobile security and the ongoing development of Samsung KNOX. While Samsung is contributing a part of KNOX technology for the benefit of the entire Android community and enterprise customers, Samsung KNOX remains the most secure Android platform from the hardware to the application level. Samsung will continue to work with our partners to enable KNOX for all of our valued customers. Our list of enterprise and government clients continues to grow rapidly, and is a testament to our commitment to providing highly-desirable, secure mobile devices across all industries. Furthermore, Samsung continues to offer differentiated and highly valuable mobile enterprise services such as KNOX EMM and KNOX Marketplace to provide customers with the most secure and scalable mobility management solution.
This should put an end to speculation once and for all, Samsung is sticking with KNOX for the foreseeable future.
