Samsung’s SmartThings to enter Korea in Q1

SmartThings, a U.S. smart home start-up acquired by Samsung Electronics last August, will enter the Korean market in the first quarter of this year, company officials said Friday.

The South Korean tech giant snapped up the fast-growing Internet of Things start-up in a $200 million deal under its vision to have all its appliances connected to the Web by 2020.

Samsung confirmed that it will roll out SmartThings products, including a smart hub and multipurpose sensors, in the first quarter.

SmartThings has recently unveiled a batch of new sensors, an upgraded smart-home hub, and a home-monitoring subscription service, during the International CES trade show held in Las Vegas earlier this month.

The hub, which links almost everything at home from lights and toasters to cameras and washing machines, allows users to monitor and control the connected gadgets.

The home-monitoring subscription service send alerts to users’ smartphones when emergent situations, like a flood or fire, take place at home.

It is no secret that SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson started the company after finding out that a leaky pipe had caused a flood in the basement of his home in 2012.

SmartThings’ Home Monitoring Kit, consisting of a Hub, two multipurpose sensors to monitor whether doors or windows are open or closed, a motion sensor, and an outlet, is currently sold at $249 in the U.S. The hub alone is priced at $99.

SmartThings’ home automation products also boasts wide compatibility as they can be linked to electronics devices made by other brands as well as Samsung.

Participating in the IFA electronics trade show in Germany last year, he said, “Together with Samsung, we will grow and create a completely open IoT ecosystem all around the world.”

SmartThings, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is reportedly planning to provide home security services in collaboration with security firm ADT.

Samsung announced earlier this month that its entire smart TV lineup would be SmartThings-ready from this year, which will enable users to control home devices through the TVs.

Around 25 billion smart appliances, wearables, game players and other consumer devices will be running on the networks by 2025, according to research firm IHS.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heralcorp.com)