Last week during CES 2016, Samsung was one of the few firms – along with LG – that was talking about IoT (the Internet of Things) while also offering tangible products people can go out and purchase for their home or business. Samsung’s Smart Things range of devices include door alarms, home monitoring cameras and more, all available for a pretty decent price considering their functionality. One thing that these devices all need is a power source, with much of the smaller items using a battery. This leads us to an area Samsung feels will be a big source of revenue going into 2016.
As we see Samsung so much as a smartphone and tablet manufacturer, it can be hard to realize that they manufacture the majority of their devices themselves. Unlike someone like Motorola and Sony, Samsung put their own processor, their own memory and storage, their own displays and their own batteries into their smartphones. A company not just responsible for creating smartphones, Samsung also makes many of the components that go into these devices. Batteries is one area where Samsung are going strong right now. Fabrice Hudry, Samsung SDI America President told the Korea Times that “batteries are revolutionizing transport by powering electric vehicles and finally allowing us to store renewable energy.” He goes on to say that it’s the design of batteries that is key, ensuring they are “ultra slim, light and bendable” such as the new ‘Stripe Battery’ samsung showed off during CES 2016.
While Fabrice is keen to reinforce the fact that batteries can “help the IoT ecosystem to flourish” the market is much broader than that. With the right battery technology, Samsung could shore up some serious clients. With the likes of Tesla and Chevrolet selling more electric cars by the day, it’s clear that batteries have become more than a commodity where smartphones are concerned. 2016 is set to be an interesting year for Samsung, with the release of the Galaxy S7 just a few months away, they have their work cut out for them. The more money from other sources, the better shape Samsung will be in for the rest of the year.