SmartThings, which makes smartphone-operated home device controllers, announced today that it had been acquired by Korean electronics giant Samsung for an undisclosed amount — although sources have put the figure at about US$200 million, according to a report by Re/Code.
Samsung Electronic Australia did not provide ZDNet with comment related to the acquisition.
However, SmartThings founder and CEO Alex Hawkinson said in a blog post on the company's website that it would continue to run as an independent entity, but would make the move to Palo Alto in California to operate within Samsung's Open Innovation Centre Group.
"We will continue to run SmartThings the way we always have: by embracing our community of customers, developers, and device makers and championing the creation of the leading open platform for the smart home," he said. "Our growing team will remain fully intact and will relocate to a new headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. In short: SmartThings will remain SmartThings."
Hawksinson said that it had always been the company's goal to create an open smart home platform bringing together third-party developers, device makers, and consumers, and suggested that the acquisition would help the company expand its presence among all of the big smartphone vendors, not just Samsung.
"We believe that there is an enormous opportunity to leverage Samsung's global scale to help us realize our long-term vision," he said. "While we will remain operationally independent, joining forces with Samsung will enable us to support all of the leading smartphone vendors, devices, and applications; expand our base of developers and enhance the tools and programs that they rely on; and help many more people around the world easily control and monitor their homes using SmartThings."
credits: Zdnet
No comments
Post a Comment