The White House is testing smartphones from Samsung Electronics Corp. 005930.SE -0.55% and LG Electronics Inc. 066570.SE +0.48% for internal use, a person familiar with the matter said, threatening one of the last and most high-profile strongholds of BlackBerry Ltd. BB.T -0.19%
The devices are being tested by the White House's internal technology team and the White House Communications Agency, a military unit in charge of the President Barack Obama's phone use and overall communications, the person said. The tests are in the early stages, according to the person, and any implementation of Samsung or LG phones is still "months away."
"We can confirm that the White House Communications Agency, consistent with the rest of the Department of Defense, is piloting and using a variety of mobile devices," a Defense Department spokesman said. The spokesman declined to comment on the devices in the pilot test or in use at the White House.
An LG spokesman said the company wasn't aware of such testing.
President Obama uses a modified BlackBerry, long a point of pride for the Waterloo, Ontario, company. Apple Inc. AAPL -0.48% for the last few years has been chipping away at BlackBerry's once-dominant position in the government sector, and Samsung has invested heavily to win more government customers.
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen has said that winning back government customers is a top priority. Mr. Chen said in an interview this month with Bloomberg Television that he had met with officials from the White House to discuss "some of the stuff they like and some of the stuff they would like us to work on."
"For more than a decade, BlackBerry has been securing the U.S. government's mobile communications and only BlackBerry is designed to meet the high security needs of U.S. and allied government agencies," a BlackBerry spokeswoman said.