Samsung purchases home automation company, SmartThings, for $200 million

Samsung has agreed to purchase home automation company SmartThings for the price of $200 million. Several weeks ago, the two were reported to be in talks about a deal and it appears that an agreement was reached. Samsung will allow SmartThings to function as an independent company as a part of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center in Palo Alto. From here, SmartThings will receive the resources it needs from Samsung while also providing Samsung with technologies to use.

Home automation is becoming a major trend, with more and more companies investing in it. Google’s purchase of Nest and Apple’s introduction of HomeKit show that the big players are interested in it. Samsung, however, has a strong shot at getting a system set up first. SmartThings already has a viable system worked out that includes a $99 hub that connects all of your devices together. What SmartThings needs is exactly what Samsung has: stable financial backing and strong marketing impetus. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to watching this play out.

Show Press Release

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire SmartThings, the leading open platform for the smart home and the consumer Internet of Things. SmartThings supports an open and growing ecosystem of developers, who are producing new types of connected devices and unique apps in the cloud that change how everyday objects work. With Samsung’s resources and support, SmartThings will be able to expand its platform and become available for even more partners and devices.

“SmartThings has created a remarkable universe of partners and developers and now has the most engagement of any smart home platform in the world”

The company will continue to operate independently under founder and CEO Alex Hawkinson, and will become part of the Samsung Open Innovation Center (OIC), which is responsible for bringing software and services innovation to Samsung Electronics. SmartThings will move its headquarters from Washington, DC to Palo Alto, California.

Founded in 2012, SmartThings gives people power to monitor, control, and automate their homes from wherever they are through a single mobile app. SmartThings’ open platform supports more than 1,000 devices and 8,000 apps created by its community of device makers, inventors, and developers.

“SmartThings has created a remarkable universe of partners and developers and now has the most engagement of any smart home platform in the world,” said David Eun, Head of the OIC. “Connected devices have long been strategically important to Samsung and, like Alex and his team, we want to improve the convenience and services in people’s lives by giving their devices and appliances a voice so they can interact more easily with them. We are committed to maintaining SmartThings’ open platform, fostering more explosive growth, and becoming its newest strategic partner.”

“As an open, standards-agnostic platform for the Internet of Things, our vision has always been to innovate, build, and make the world smarter, together,” said Alex Hawkinson. “With Samsung behind us, we will be able to attract more device makers and developers to unlock the limitless possibilities of the consumer Internet of Things. We are thrilled to become part of the Samsung family and continue our goal in making every home a smart home.”