Samsung to spend $1.2bn on IoT research

Samsung CEO Dr Oh-Hyun Kwon underlines importance of the Internet of Things and future technologies

Samsung will spend $1.2bn on research into the Internet of Things (IoT) over the next four years, the firm's vice chairman and CEO, Dr Oh-Hyun Kwon, has announced.

The work will be centred on the company's US-based research and development labs where 15,000 workers are employed to look into new technology areas.

Dr Oh-Hyun Kwon said that it is vital to consider the potential benefits of the IoT from an end-user perspective first.

"At Samsung, putting people at the centre of everything we do is our highest value, and the same must be true for the IoT if we want to realise its full transformative power," he said.

"Today the IoT is changing individual lives, helping people to age in their own homes. But tomorrow, using the IoT, we can give the same independence to millions."

The speech also urged law- and policy-makers to see that rules governing IoT technologies and protocols work in harmony to ensure that innovation is not stifled.

"If we want innovators everywhere to make use of the IoT, we must make sure that all tools are open to them," he said.

"This means technologies that connect to each other, because we know that boundaries around technologies hold back innovation and scale."

Samsung's moves into the IoT market coincide with plans to dramatically improve its position in the mobile networking market by focusing on 5G technologies.

Kim Young-ki, Samsung's network business chief, told Reuters that the company plans to move quickly in the 5G space, and will generate more than ₩10tn (around £5.8bn) in annual sales of 5G equipment by 2022.

This is a lofty target given that the firm's networks business generated less than ₩3tn in revenue last year compared with ₩100tn from mobile device sales.

"We plan to move quickly and want to be at least among the top three with 5G," Young-ki said. "It's important to get in early."