LG strengthens IoT portfolio with Athom purchase
LG has acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, a Netherlands-based smart home platform company, with plans to purchase the remaining 20 percent within three years.
The acquisition will integrate Athom’s extensive connectivity capabilities, which link thousands of appliances, sensors, and lighting devices, with LG’s generative AI-enabled ThinQ platform. This combination is expected to create an AI home that delivers personalised environments tailored to customer preferences.
“The acquisition of Athom is a cornerstone for our AI home business,” said Jung Ki-hyun, executive vice president and head of LG’s Platform Business Center.
“By leveraging the synergy between the two companies, we will expand our open ecosystem and external integration services, aiming to provide customers with more diverse and multidimensional space experiences.”
Athom, founded in 2014, is known for its smart home hub ‘Homey,’ which has gained a loyal customer base of hundreds of thousands of users, primarily in Europe. The company’s flagship product, Homey Pro, can connect to more than 50,000 devices and supports various connection methods, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Matter, and Thread.
The Homey App Store offers around 1,000 applications for connecting and controlling home devices from various brands. Many of these applications are based on official partnerships, while others are developed by the active Homey community.
LG plans to leverage this acquisition to incorporate third-party devices and services into its ecosystem, providing deeper insights into customer usage patterns and accelerating the delivery of personalised services. Despite the acquisition, Athom will continue to operate independently—maintaining its business operations and branding.
This move aligns with LG’s broader strategy of transitioning from a hardware-focused to a software-based platform business. The company aims to establish continuous relationships with customers through devices connected to the AI home, transforming into a ‘Smart Life Solution Company’ that provides differentiated value.
William Cho, CEO of LG Electronics, commented: “LG is evolving into an intelligent space solutions company that connects and expands experiences in various living spaces.
“We will continue to make strategic investments to shift our business paradigm, as evidenced by our successive entries into platform-based appliance services and solutions such as the webOS advertising platform and AI home.”
The global smart home market is projected to grow from $81.2 billion in 2023 to $260.24 billion by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 26.23 percent, according to market research firm TechNavio.
(Image Credit: LG)
See also: Samsung tackles grid stability with smart home energy system
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