Samsung has denied the rumours and said it has no plans to drop either Bixby or Galaxy Store from its devices, saying both services are an important part of the Galaxy ecosystem.

"We remain committed to our own services and ecosystem", it said in a statement.

Google has tried for years to get Samsung, the world's leading mobile device maker by units sold, to drop its own services and give greater prominence to Google's search, Assistant and Play Store apps, according to a person previously involved in the relationship.

The search giant sometimes gives manufacturers a portion of ad revenue generated from Google apps featured on their devices. But Samsung has clung to efforts to promote its own apps, from which it can collect all the revenue, despite years of glitches and tepid user interest.