Last month, Samsung as the leader in the smartphone market, according to IDC.

Then, of course, there's the Linux-based project, which offers great promise as a compelling Android alternative. Samsung has enthusiastically backed Tizen from the get-go, and last I heard it was still planning to merge its own operating system into the project.

I'm betting it won't be long before we see a Tizen phone from Samsung.

It's no wonder Samsung is getting serious about Linux. The free and open source operating system powers a huge part of its product line, and there's more to come.