Android chief Sundar Pichai says Samsung is a great partner to work with

It’s no secret that Samsung and Google have had their share of friction, but Android chief Sundar Pichai believes that this is just a topic that’s played up in press.

Speaking to Wired days before Google I/O, Pichai talked about his vision of Android and life as the chief of the world’s most popular platform. When asked if it’s a problem for Google that Samsung has such a stranglehold on the market, Pichai said, “Samsung is a great partner to work with. We work with them on pretty much almost all our important products. Here’s my Samsung Galaxy S4.”

It’s going great with Samsung, says Pichai

He also went on to defend the user experience on the new Samsung flagship, which many critics have termed gimmicky. “I actually never used it,” he said when asked about the eye-tracking technology in the new TouchWiz, before adding, “Look, Samsung plays a critical role in helping Android be successful. To ship great experiences, you need hardware and software together. The relationship is very strong on a day-to-day basis and on a tactical basis. So I’m not that concerned.”

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Pichai also cited the history of Microsoft and Intel, which built a “stable structure” for the PC industry. “They (Microsoft and Intel) were very co-dependent on one another, but it served both of them well. When I look at where computing needs to go, we need innovation in displays, in batteries. Samsung is a world leader in those technologies.”

And if Samsung ever worries about Google playing favourites with Motorola when it comes to Android, then Pichai allayed those too. “For the purposes of the Android ecosystem, Motorola is [just another] partner.”