If true it makes their smart watch joint venture interesting. Did google force samsung to stop using tizen on their smart watches? Pay them a large sum of money to get wearOS back in the game?
Samsung is the manufacturer most capable of forking Android and telling Google to shove it, and that most of their product development has been making sure that it's possible to do so (Galaxy Store, Bixby, Tizen watches, etc.)
And that Google, knowing Samsung has the brand loyalty and wide userbase to devastate Android's market share, is in a constant effort to pay Samsung to stop pushing them away.
So they built competitors to Google's product library, and then Google pays them to push a Google product anyways, and then they build a competitor to the next Google product, and wait for the check from Google for them to shelve it... Through this back and forth, Samsung both ends up with a competitive ecosystem to Google ready-to-go if they need it, and an extremely lucrative pile of concessions from Google that Google would've preferred to not have to give them.
Also, I am wonder what happened of Samsung & Microsoft plans of Samsung shelving its app & services for Microsoft. I feel that was the "real motivation" for Google to start paying.
Google needs to be challenged for an improvement in Android space. They should stop rushing in half baked stuff and instead work on releasing reliable & well tested products.
As a person that actively used android, iOS, Linux, Windows & Mac, Apple's stuffs just work and it's high time the competition catches up.
As for Android, we need to have flavour / custom ROMs that is 100% degoogled and with proper alternatives. Ubuntu, Microsoft & LinageOS all need to up their game and get more people involved.
I've used my S9+ with their flavor of Android and other integrations for many years now and my phone still feels just as snappy and great as the day I bought it.