Samsung neared the closing of a deal with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The deal involved Galaxy devices, said sources familiar with the transaction Friday.

The FBI has more than 35,000 employees who currently mainly used BlackBerry devices. Whether the agency's deal with Samsung would replace these units or if it would use hardware from both companies was not clear. An FBI spokeswoman did not comment on this. However, she did state that the agency has an active acquisition process in place for selecting its new smartphones. Discussions relating to this process were proprietary to the government.

The deal was in line with Samsung's goal of infiltrating a niche dominated by BlackBerry for a long time. For some time now, the South Korean company was convincing corporate clients and government agencies alike that Galaxy can cater to their stringent security needs. These devices were powered by an Android operating system from Google. Should the deal with FBI push through, Samsung hoped it would help convince banks, law firms, and other security-conscious clients to follow suit.