Partnerships with German Automakers
Samsung is establishing a close cooperative relationship with major German automakers, such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, in order to broaden its boundaries in the smart car market.
According to Samsung and Fortune on May 2, Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG, will install the Samsung Gear VR and Gear 360 Camera in its main exibititions and provide virtual test driving contents of Smart for Two Cabrio, which is to be released this summer, and promotion videos of the full-size GLS luxury sports utility vehicle.
During a global E-class launch event held in Lisbon, Portugal, in March, Daimler AG demonstrated its auto parking and door systems with Samsung Galaxy smartphone. In regard to infotainment, the company said that it is cooperating with Samsung.
BMW, which has teamed up with Samsung, also announced on May 1 (local time) that it will release the 2017 i3, which has increased the driving range from the existing 132 km per charge to 183 km using Samsung SDI’s battery. The company said that the i3 has the lithium-ion battery which improves its capacity by 50 percent (33 kWh and 94 Ah).
Samsung Electronics has already built Samsung’s SmartThings in the BMW i3 to connect the home with the car, and the 7-inch Touch Command Tablet in the back seat of the new 7 series. The company also set up 55-inch transparent OLED displays at The BMW Driving Center in Yeongjong Island, Incheon.
In addition, Samsung is partnering with Audi and supplying 20-nano LPDDR4 from D-RAM and 10-nano eMMC (NAND + controller, mobile internal memory) 5.1 product from NAND to Audi vehicles. The company has made various strategic partnerships with particularly German automakers. An official from the industry said, “In the U.S., local IT companies have the competitiveness and LG is strong in the market. In Japan, most smart car application components are already been used so there is no room for Samsung to squeeze in. However, the partnership between European automakers and Samsun is a win win since they also need to compete with other automakers in the U.S. and Japan in the smart car market.”
Meanwhile, Samsung is recently promoting its technology capability in carious smart car related businesses, including connected car solution and infotainment system as well as VR. During the Samsung Developer Conference 2016 held for two days from April 27 (local time) in San Francisco, the U.S., Samsung Electronics stressed that the connectivity of Samsung Connect Auto, a connected car solution unveiled at the MWC 2016, can change not only real-time car maintenance but also insurance markets.