Samsung tries to cash in on TV-based skills

While Apple only has 12.3 percent of the market, the Cupertino, California-based company's ownership of its operating system gives it greater control of every stage and a slice of each transaction.

"The value of an operating system is like intellectual property, you get a piece of the action regardless of the minor changes and you get to set the rules of the game," Tom Kang, research director at Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research Ltd, said. "It's much preferable for a giant like Samsung to be able to steer its own fate."

Google and Apple typically receive about 30 percent of every application, song or movie purchased to run on their operating systems.

Google's "other" revenue, which includes the mobile Play store as well as Chromecast hardware, was $1.84 billion in the September quarter. In the same period, Apple had sales of $4.6 billion for iTunes, software and services.

By using its scale in consumer electronics and No 1 position in TV shipments, Samsung could use the unveiling of Tizen sets to create a new standard for the industry. Samsung's TV shipments may decline to 48 million units this year from 50 million last year, Daishin Securities estimated in December.

Building the TV business around Tizen will help create "a much more intelligent and integrated system," said Won Jin Lee, executive vice-president at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung's initial forays into Tizen haven't developed a breakout hit. Its first phone using Tizen was more than a year behind schedule. The wristwatches Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo were released in April, and both are compatible with many of Samsung's Galaxy phones.

The company should improve its future competitiveness by pushing ahead with initiatives for its "smart home" and "smart health" businesses, co-Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun told employees in a Jan 2 message.

Samsung will be the biggest exhibitor of consumer electronics at the Las Vegas show, displaying TVs, tablet computers, smartphones, printers and cameras.

The company will show off its Galaxy Note Edge phones with a wraparound screen, its virtual-reality headset and audio products.