Why did Samsung buy SmartThings?

Two years ago, SmartThings, a smart-home company, succeeded in raising money on Kickstarter. Yesterday, Samsung successfully acquired SmartThings. Why does Samsung have to buy SmartThings, and how will SmartThings develop after the takeover? To this end, he interviewed SmartThings's co-founder and chief executive Alex Hawkinson and the executive vice president of Samsung, David Eun. The following is an edited and compressed interview. Technology Blog The Verge: Your company has been established for two years, and seemingly rapid development, why sell it? Hawkinson: From the start, our desire is to make every family intelligent. When I started to do it, I knew that the right approach was easy to find, but as a fully open platform, there was a lot to be done. There are thousands of partners on our platform, so we had a chance to meet David and his team a few months ago. I realized at that time that we had a common wish. We can continue to operate independently and openly. But we can use Samsung's global size to get more customers faster. It all depends on its sheer size. Make all home intelligent. So, what do I need to know if I'm a SmartThings client? Are you saying you're completely independent or are you going to have some changes? The essence of hawkinson:smartthings is unchanged. It is important for me to remain independent. Our brands, methodologies, business models, product models, all of which will remain independent. In fact, nothing changes except to be better. We are a leading company in this field, and no one doubts that we will maintain this advantage for long. Samsung is the world's largest consumer electronics platform. We're excited to work together. Eun: We've been trying to make sure Alex and his team remain independent. We feel that all Internet things will follow the smartthings trend. On the other hand, you can imagine that we are excited to seek opportunities to work with them. Let's talk about something else. Samsung has some smart devices, SmartThings plans to deal with them? Hawkinson: We have not announced the blueprint for development, you will always know. But you can think of some obvious ways. For us, there are more consumers on the platform, which will lead more developers to build the platform, this is a virtuous circle. And the loop is running. Using Samsung's distribution channels, we can have a real chance to make it a more colorful and productive platform. You will be a member of the Samsung Open Innovation Center (innovation Center,oic), and I think it's not just an incubator. So why join them? Eun:oic was launched 1.5 ago. Essentially, the mission of the Center is to promote the company's different software andService innovation. And we've been focusing on small startups from the start. But we have different teams, one of them is the team that is in charge of the acquisition, which is why SmartThings with us now. We work with start-ups and invest in them, and we have our own accelerator ": We start our own business and evolve." We are independent of any department in Samsung, but we also work with them. I think this is an independent platform for SmartThings. Maintain a certain distance from other departments, allowing them to continue to operate independently, and can effectively work with all the Samsung departments. This is the mission of OIC, and it is very consistent with the smartthings reasons. All we have to do is work with start-ups and companies. So, one of these new ventures is dedicated to the hardware development of networked devices. Did Alex get SmartThings to join him? Eun: It ultimately depends on Alex. Alex, it's easy to lose yourself in a big company, how do you avoid that? Eun: They don't lose themselves because they don't have to be integrated with the whole company. They run independently. All right, let's move on. If I'm not an early follower, how do you think I'm going to install a networking device at home? Hawkinson: Every month, we have double-digit growth in our business. Of course, we are still in the early stages of development, but we have reached a level that can address the general needs of humankind. And it's concrete, not across. If your basement is damp, like the one that caused me to start this company, we have a moisture kit available. If you are interested in the Jetsons style of a new generation of automation home, we also have the most advanced and interesting applications. If you have a grandmother at home and you want an independent elderly care program, we have a platform. There are many problems in people's daily life, but there are many simple ways to solve the basic problems of consumers. It's cheap to get these benefits. Combined with Samsung's global channels, we can achieve this. (Theverge)