Samsung hopeful that IoT will drive its semiconductor sales

According to a new report from ZDNet, Samsung is hopeful that it will be able to grab more market in the IoT space by increasing its competence in semiconductor chips. A senior executive from the company said that Samsung will also provide more complete solutions that include security and the power of the cloud.

Byung-se So, EVP, Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center, talked about its Artik module that can be used to make various IoT solutions. He also said at the investors meet that the company will lead the IoT market going forward. Samsung commercially launched the Artik module a couple of months ago and introduced Artik Cloud in April.

Samsung is already doing well in the semiconductor space, which is growing at a pace of 7 percent per year, and the company said that IoT will account for 25 percent of the semiconductor market. Samsung intends to capture over half of that market by 2020 by putting its chips in 6.6 billion devices in smart home, healthcare, transportation, and other segments.

Samsung competes with Qualcomm and Intel in the IoT market, but Samsung's IoT optimized chips will come with additional benefits such as cloud and enhanced security. The EVP said that 97 percent of the company's chips are IoT optimized, which is still 2 to 3 percent behind its rivals, but the support for the whole ecosystem makes up for its deficiencies.

He also said that cloud is necessary for IoT devices and vendors who supply IoT chips without cloud integration will fall behind in the future. Samsung invested in home automation startup SmartThings in 2014 and released a new lineup of products last year.