Samsung's Massive Success With Android Could Be A Threat To Google

One of Samsung's commercials, featuring LeBron JamesGoogle is tickled pink that Samsung is absolutely crushing it as the number one Android phone maker in the world. All those devices bring in a lot of mobile ad revenue for Google, after all.

But The Wall Street Journal reports today that things may not be so peachy behind closed doors.

According to some of WSJ's sources, Android boss Andy Rubin said at an executive event last fall that Samsung's dominance could eventually become a threat to Google.

Luckily, Google now owns Motorola, which it can use as leverage against Samsung.

This isn't a new theme.

Publicly, Google has said it plans to treat all Android partners equally and will continue giving the operating system away for free. But if consumers start buying Samsung devices instead of those made by Google and its other Android partners, Google could start closing off Android and give Motorola all the latest and greatest features.

The best example of this is the so-called X Phone, which is reportedly being developed by both Google and Motorola for launch later this year. We've also heard from sources that Google plans to use Motorola to make its own hardware instead of relying only on third parties.

On other side of things, Samsung will be ready if Google decides to shut it out. It has its own mobile operating system called Tizen that could replace Android if need be.