If Verizon’s CEO has anything to say about it, Samsung should consider launching its own mobile operating system in a very big way. “There’s a potential elephant in the room with Samsung,” said Lowell McAdam at an investor conference earlier in the week.

There is little question that Samsung has all the resources to do exactly what McAdam is talking about, but the real question is should they, or would they? Samsung already has an operating system in Bada, which runs in select parts of the world where Android isn’t seen as the only alternative to Apple. McAdam even goes as far as saying that Samsung is a “dark horse” in the wireless industry, though he doesn’t specifically hint at Bada as the OS Samsung should consider.

While Samsung declined to comment on CNET’s report, Samsung could follow the business model that has worked so well for Apple, but less so for RIM. For Samsung, being able to control both the software and the hardware would give them a level of control that few other companies can afford to do.

While Samsung may be able to pull off the technicalities here, the question isn’t whether they could, but whether they should? Samsung has seen meteoric growth with Android and while their legal troubles are a black eye as of late, that hasn’t stopped the company from selling mountains of devices. A key factor would getting developers on board, which is a challenge for any company, no matter the brand power as Microsoft is learning with Windows Phone. For now, Samsung seems content with relegating Bada to smaller, international launches that don’t distract from their Android juggernaut.

Would you care to see Samsung try and build their own OS?

CNET