Samsung's SmartThings is one of the world's biggest and most popular smart home platforms, and LG is trying to become better equipped to compete with SmartThings. Today, it announced the acquisition of Homey, a popular smart home platform that works with third-party devices.
LG acquires Homey to bring third-party device compatibility with ThinQ
LG has announced it has acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, a Dutch company known for its popular smart home platform, Homey. The South Korean firm will acquire the remaining 20 percent stake in Athom in the next three years. This should help LG make its smart home platform, ThinQ, better suited to compete with Samsung's SmartThings.
LG will integrate Homey into its smart home appliances and the ThinQ app. Homey's existing users will soon be able to control their LG ThinQ-compatible home appliances via the Homey app.
Homey was founded in 2014, and since then, it has built support for over 50,000 smart home devices, including the ones from Aqara, Honeywell, IKEA, Netatmo, Philips Hue, Samsung, and Sonos. Moreover, it also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Homey Pro is a smart home hub compatible with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave Plus, Infrared, Matter, and Thread.
Homey is popular among those who want privacy and extreme customizations (through Advanced Flow and HomeyScript).
While Athom and LG aren't revealing the acquisition figures, a report from Korea Economic Daily pegs this deal at around KRW 85 billion (around $61 million).
Samsung made a similar acquisition in 2014 when it acquired SmartThings for $200 million. Since then, it has expanded SmartThings. Over the past few years, it has integrated SmartThings Hubs into its refrigerators, soundbars, and TVs.
In the video below, you can watch Ballie, Samsung's upcoming home assistant robot. It also features a SmartThings Hub.
LG said Athom will continue to operate independently. It will also retain its current branding, teams, and operations. Athom's founders will continue as its executives to “continue to execute their vision and create a better smart home for everyone.”
Hopefully, Samsung will look at some of the cool things that Homey is doing and bring similar features to SmartThings in the future.
Image Credits: Homey, LG, Samsung
