Samsung knows that phone and tablet making won’t bring it high margins forever. In fact, the company has already started to feel pressure from the growing number of Chinese vendors, some of which actually make great devices. Think: Xiaomi, Meizu, Oppo and OnePlus. Heck, Xiaomi is also a platform maker of sorts, with its MIUI running on millions of devices around the world.
Like any major company, Samsung is well aware that the real money lies in eco-systems; owning and operating a platform comes with hard-to-replicate long-term benefits. Alas, Sammy’s existing effort led nowhere. Think: Bada and Tizen. Actually, the latter could find its fortune in wearables and home appliances, but we’re having hard time seeing it in our phones and tablets.
Recently, the Korean company unveiled its open software and hardware platform for smart bands and watches called S.A.M.I. We haven’t heard more from it ever since, but we’re sure they’ll be pushing this project forward.
And the other day, they acquired SmartThings, the company that wants to automate your home. SmartThings is behind both the software and hardware platforms, and has proven its raison d’être through a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Samsung makes home appliances, some of which are already deemed smart, and is eagerly looking at the smart home market for growth – so these two seem like a match made in heaven.
Under the deal worth $200 million, SmartThings will keep doing its thing, attracting new companies to its platform. The company will remain independent, operating within Samsung’s Open Innovation Center group, and be relocated to a new headquarters in Palo Alto, California. We do, however, tend to think that SmartThings engineers will be playing with Tizen more than they used to. And it remains to be seen how all that will pan out.
Smart home is where other companies are looking for growth as well, including Apple, LG, Philips, and many other smaller players tackling the parts of this big market. Samsung seems to have a slight advantage here but it remains to be seen whether they manage to monetize on it. As usual, we’ll be watching this space and get back to you as soon as we have something new to add…