Getting Smarter
Founded in 2012, the US-based company makes sensors and controllers that enable users to operate various electronic devices at home using a smartphone app. The firm's open-source platform can sync with more than 1,000 kinds of devices and over 8,000 types of apps.
Although the purchase price was not made public, overseas media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal reported that it is estimated at around US$200 million (200 billion won).
Samsung is among the world's top consumer electronics manufacturers, and so the firm anticipates that the M&A deal will create synergy. With the sale of SmartThings to the Korean tech giant, it was decided that the U.S. company would move its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Silicon Valley. However, Alex Hawkinson, the founder and CEO of SmartThings, will continue to run the company independently.
The CEO said, “I'm glad to become a member of Samsung Electronics,” adding, “I will cooperate with many more developers with Samsung's support, and try hard to develop the world in a more innovative way.”
“I will support SmartThings so that it can maintain the nature of an open-source platform and grow steadily,” said Samsung EVP David Eun, head of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center based in Silicon Valley.