Samsung jumps on Google bandwagon

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has become the latest handset vendor to snuggle up with Internet search company Google Inc. with plans to provide Google search, mapping and e-mail applications on its handsets. Samsung made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Beginning in “early 2007,” the Korean vendor’s handsets will include a Google icon in the applications menu for one-click access to search and mapping functions.
The announcement follows deals between Google and Motorola Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P., BenQ Mobile and other handset vendors.
Samsung may be eager to keep the good news rolling. The Korean vendor, which makes a wide range of durable goods as well as consumer electronics, is expected to announce fourth-quarter 2006 earnings tomorrow. According to Dow Jones Newswires, analysts have forecasted a low, single-digit drop in operating profit for the vendor’s handset business.
These results, if confirmed by Samsung tomorrow, would echo Motorola’s recent warning to investors that, despite record numbers of handsets sold, a decline in average selling prices across the industry has eroded operating profits.