According to SamMobile, Samsung’s Cheolgi Kim announced at CES 2026 that the SmartThings platform now has over 430 million users globally as of December 2025. That’s a massive jump of more than 80 million users from the 350 million reported back in September 2024. The company also revealed a first-of-its-kind partnership with insurance provider Hartford Steam Boiler. This partnership aims to unlock savings for users by leveraging smart devices on the platform to reduce home insurance premiums. A pilot in the U.S. last year was successful, and the program is now expanding to more states and global insurance providers. Based on this growth, Samsung could see SmartThings hit half a billion users by the end of 2026.
User Growth and Market Momentum
Adding 80 million users in just over a year is wild. It’s not just a number—it’s a signal. SmartThings is clearly becoming the default nervous system for a huge chunk of the smart home market, especially given Samsung‘s massive appliance and TV footprint. Think about it: every new Samsung TV or fridge is a potential SmartThings hub. That’s a built-in user acquisition engine that competitors like Apple’s Home or Google Home can’t easily match. The trajectory toward half a billion users seems almost inevitable at this pace. But here’s the thing: are these all *active* users, or just accounts? That’s always the million-dollar question with platform numbers. Still, the growth rate is undeniably impressive.
The Real Game: Insurance and Stakeholder Impact
Now, the insurance partnership is where things get really interesting. This move has major implications for every stakeholder. For users, it’s a tangible, financial reason to buy into the ecosystem beyond convenience. Lower premiums? That’s a powerful incentive. For developers and device makers, it validates the platform’s reach and creates a new value proposition for their products—a smart leak sensor isn’t just about alerts anymore, it’s about saving money. And for the enterprise and insurance market, it’s a goldmine of data. Insurers get real-time risk mitigation data, and Samsung gets to position SmartThings as not just a luxury, but a practical, cost-saving necessity. This blurs the line between consumer tech and essential home infrastructure.
Consolidation and What Comes Next
So what does holding this much of the market mean? Basically, consolidation. Samsung acquired SmartThings a decade ago and has been steadily folding everything under it. With this scale, they can set more standards, influence device compatibility, and push their own chips and services. The platform becomes the gravitational center. But the challenge will be managing that scale without becoming bloated or fragmented. Can the experience stay smooth for someone with two devices and for a power user with fifty? And will these insurance perks, which are a brilliant business move, roll out globally in a meaningful way, or will they be a U.S.-centric feature? That’s the next hurdle. One thing’s for sure: in the world of connected devices, from smart sensors to industrial panel PCs used in building management, platform dominance is everything. And right now, SmartThings is building a lead that’s getting harder to catch.
