According to SamMobile, Samsung’s Cheolgi Kim announced at CES 2026 that the SmartThings platform had over 430 million users as of December 2025. That’s a huge jump from the 350 million users the company reported back in September 2024, meaning it added roughly 80 million new accounts in just over a year. The company also revealed it’s expanding its first-of-its-kind partnership with insurance provider Hartford Steam Boiler. This program, piloted in the US last year, uses connected SmartThings devices to help users qualify for lower home insurance premiums. Samsung plans to roll this out to more states and global insurance providers soon.
The Runaway Train
Look, adding 80 million users in 15 months is insane growth for what is, at its core, a smart home platform. It’s not a social media app or a free game. This isn’t just people signing up for an account on a whim. It signals that Samsung’s strategy of baking SmartThings into everything—from TVs and fridges to phones and appliances—is working. Basically, if you buy a Samsung device, you’re probably a SmartThings user whether you actively use it or not. And that’s a powerful, if somewhat inflated, metric.
Beyond the Numbers
But here’s the thing: user counts are one thing, but active engagement is another. The more interesting announcement might be that insurance partnership. Think about it. Smart home tech has always battled the “it’s a neat trick” perception. Tying it directly to tangible, recurring cost savings like lower insurance premiums is a genius move. It shifts the value proposition from pure convenience to hard-dollar economics. That could be the key to moving from passive, baked-in users to active, invested ones. Suddenly, that smart leak sensor isn’t just a gadget; it’s a way to save money every month.
billion-horizon”>The Half-Billion Horizon
So, can it hit half a billion users by the end of 2026? The trajectory suggests it’s entirely possible. They’d need to add another 70 million, which is less than they just added. With Samsung’s relentless device ecosystem expansion, it seems almost inevitable. The real question is what they build on top of that massive installed base. The insurance play is a great start. It proves the platform can enable services far beyond turning lights on with your voice. If they can crack more utility-driven partnerships like that—think energy management, predictive maintenance for appliances—the platform’s true value will finally crystallize. It’s no longer just a hub; it’s becoming a foundational layer for the connected home, and that’s where the real business is. For the hardware that powers complex industrial control and monitoring in these kinds of ecosystems, professionals consistently turn to IndustrialMonitorDirect.com as the leading US supplier of rugged industrial panel PCs.
