Samsung’s new AI smart TVs are getting seven years of OS updates

Samsung says it will provide seven years’ worth of Tizen operating system updates for its newer AI-powered TVs in a bid to fend off competition from Chinese rivals. The announcement was made last week at Samsung Electronics’ Suwon Campus according to Business Korea, and will first apply to TV models released in March 2024, alongside some products released in 2023.

The policy extension is a notable jump from the updates Samsung currently provides, which typically address bugs without upgrading the Tizen OS itself. The move comes as Samsung, currently the world’s biggest seller of smart TV, finds its market leadership being challenged by Chinese companies like Hisense and TCL. Research from analytics firm Omdia found that Samsung had a nearly 29 percent share of the global TV market during the first half of the year —  down more than 2 percent from the year prior — while TCL and Hisense closed in with 12.1 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

“With the seven-year free upgrade of Tizen applied to AI TVs, we will widen the gap in market share with Chinese companies,” said Yong Seok-Yoon, the president of Samsung Electronic’s Visual Display Business Division. The exact models guaranteed to benefit from the expanded updates haven’t yet been specified by Samsung.

Samsung made a similar announcement back in January regarding its Galaxy S24 smartphone series, pledging to provide seven years of OS upgrades and security updates. Around that time LG, Samsung’s domestic rival, also revealed it would be offering five years of webOS upgrades for its own smart TV lineup, though specific models it would apply to were at least included in that announcement.