Samsung, one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers, is investing in blockchain and unveiling dApps for its smartphones. The tech powerhouse will add more than twelve apps to its Blockchain Keystore online app market.

Back in March, Samsung launched the Blockchain Keystore offering only four apps. At the moment, the number is up to seventeen. Initially, the core apps were: a cryptocurrency wallet, a game, a social media app, and a billing app. This subsequent build-up will add different ones like social media app Anpan to entertainment app The Hunters.

The dApp Space

With blockchain dApps gaining traction in the digital world, the competition to carve a niche in this space is well and truly on. Samsung intends to position itself as an industry leader. The tech giant was the first large company to create crypto-centric products after launching the Galaxy S10 this year. Samsung views itself as a trailblazer in building on blockchain-related apps: 

“Although some large technology companies have not yet done so, we have begun to explore blockchain technology and have released a cryptocurrency wallet product.”

Clearly, Samsung views this development as a step ahead of its competitors. In the smartphone realm, Samsung is obviously in a long protracted battle with Apple to truly dominate this market.  Their wallet systems currently only allow for storage of ERC-20 tokens and protocols. 

This is despite the fact that Samsung featured bitcoin logo on its pre-release presentation images. Regardless, Galaxy 10 users can download the Samsung Blockchain Wallet from the Galaxy store and enjoy the extra apps.

The Plans of Samsung’s Competitors

Given Samsung’s bold intentions, let’s have a look at what its competitors are doing in the blockchain field. Apple is obviously Samsung’s biggest rival in the smartphone market. Apple is yet to delve into the dApp scene as it does not have a wallet app out.

It seems that Apple seems to be reluctant to delve into crypto for the time being. The American smartphone giant has a credit card affiliation called Apple Card with Goldman Sachs.  For now, Apple Card does not allow the purchase of crypto. 

The joint agreement with Goldman Sachs classifies crypto in the “cash advance and cash equivalent” category. All this is in line with the general negative stance Apple has to crypto. Notably, the company banned mining applications in the App Store in early 2018. That said, it will be interesting to track how they respond to dApp industry growth and Samsung expanding its enterprise.

LG and Huawei

Incidentally, other Samsung competitors don’t follow this path of ignoring cryptocurrency and blockchain apps. The Korean electronics company, LG submitted a trademark application last month for a blockchain app called ThinQ. 

Reports indicate that this application is a foundation for a crypto wallet and ecosystem. The transaction and settlement services from such a platform will be fascinating upon full roll-out. This trademark to the Korean Patent and Trademark Office is the clearest sign of LG intent to make inroads in this market. 

On the other hand, Huawei is yet to enact concrete plans for an encryption wallet product. This is obviously because the Chinese government, which is not the most crypto-friendly, is yet to authorize any such development.

Overly, Samsung is showing great interest in becoming a leader in the decentralized app market. Despite this, the company has its work cut out to develop a truly strong repertoire in this field. Going forward, it will be interesting to track how the Blockchain Keystore catches on and further investments.