With Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) taking the plunge on becoming content providers, it must have all the other handset-makers evaluating their next moves. Samsung says it won’t be making any in that direction, at least in the upcoming year, reports Mobile News. “Manufacturing is what we do; we see ourselves as a manufacturer first and foremost,” said Samsung Mobile’s Mark Mitchinson. “We are working with our customers and the networks around the content and services they are developing.

It’s been criticized before that Samsung is slow to jump on the smartphone bandwagon with most of its investments in that area dedicated to a small number of Windows Mobile handsets. At the minimum, it appears that it will have to start manufacturing higher end devices in order to remain competitive. On some level it would seem that would require more software expertise, but it doesn’t appear that the focus will be on consumer software. Of course, one of Samsung’s recent hits in the U.S. is the Instinct, being sold by Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel. Although the touchscreen device is capable of a lot, it’s still doesn’t have an open operating system, which allows people to download whatever they want. “I’m not saying other manufacturers are forcing into this market; they have made their stance very clear, that they need to be in services, and we do too, just in a slightly different way.”