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South Korean electronics company Samsung detailed a number of ways it aims to establish itself as a larger player in the connected home in 2018 and beyond at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week.
The company has a number of advantages over various potential rivals in the space, and with the measured but ambitious vision it’s putting forward, it could be primed to grab a large swath of the market via its managed services in the next few years.
Samsung executives gave a couple of insightful interviews at CES that highlighted the direction the company is moving in for the connected home:
- Shoneel Kolhatkar, senior director for product marketing, spoke to Engadgetabout the company’s goal of creating ever-present background artificial intelligence (AI). It’s looking to use its Bixby voice assistant to accomplish much of this by building the assistant into phones, PCs, TVs, appliances, and also a forthcoming smart speaker. The company is also aiming to create a consistent user experience across the devices and services that consumers use it for, applying lessons from its Galaxy phones to its smart fridges or speakers. And it wants to create seamless handoffs between mobile and home devices by leveraging the security of its SmartThings IoT platform to enable continuous cloud-based logins for various services.
- Samsung SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson went into detail on the security measures the connected home platform can offer in an interview withTechRepublic. He discussed the central role that security plays in the growth of SmartThings and the steps the company builds into the platform at a fundamental level. Samsung has built in extensive testing requirements for smart home devices that are compatible with the platform, for instance, and can disable devices when an update doesn’t pass security tests and notify consumers about the vulnerability in their devices. Security is a paramount concern for smart home devices, and 52% of consumers have low or no confidence that the data their IoT devices collect is secure, according to a Cisco survey. Demonstrating a commitment to security can help a company establish a strong reputation in the space.
Perhaps more than any other company, Samsung is in a position to combine AI, security, and consumer devices to create a platform that integrates a connected home into a wider ecosystem of personal connectivity. Samsung is a major manufacturer in a wide range of areas, including phones, TVs, appliances, speakers, computers, and it’s working with partners in the car as well. Owning a proprietary AI-powered voice assistant is also a plus, though consumer reaction to Bixby has been mixed.
Additionally, the company has created an open IoT platform that supports devices and services beyond its own, while acting as gatekeeper to maintain quality and security. Competitors like LG boast similarly broad manufacturing portfolios, but that company is only now looking to build a unified connected home platform under its ThinQ brand. As Samsung starts to bring all of its connected devices together and builds on its platform, look for the company to grow in prominence in the smart home arena in 2018 and the years to come.
Nicholas Shields, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the US smart home market that:
- Analyzes current consumer demand for smart home devices based off results from BI Intelligence’s proprietary survey.
- Forecasts future growth in the number of smart home devices installed in American homes.
- Analyzes the factors influencing the proliferation of voice control devices in the homes.
- Identifies and analyzes the market strategies of various companies that have integrated voice control into their smart home ecosystems.
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