Samsung Electronics Co. will acquire Joyent Inc. to expand in cloud computing as the world’s largest smartphone maker looks beyond hardware for revenue growth.

The deal will help Samsung build its cloud infrastructure, the Galaxy maker said in a statement without disclosing a purchase price. The acquisition gives the Suwon, South Korea-based company its own platform to support mobile, internet of things and cloud services.

Samsung has been “actively looking” to acquire software developers, including artificial intelligence, as it tries to overcome flat-lining sales for its devices, Executive Vice President Rhee In Jong said in March. Samsung had more than $60 billion in cash and equivalents as of the end of the first quarter.

Vice Chairman Lee Jae Yong is trying to reduce the company’s focus on manufacturing, which had helped create the world’s biggest maker of phones, TVs and memory chips.

Shipments of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and other models fell for a second straight year in 2015 as Apple Inc.’s iPhones gained traction in the high-end category while models from Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Corp. attracted budget buyers. Revenue and net income have fallen for two straight years while the stock has posted three consecutive annual declines.

Asia’s biggest technology company was involved in 12 deals totaling $456 million last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They included the purchase of LoopPay Inc., a company that develops technology for mobile payments, last year as well as purchasing SmartThings, which makes mobile applications to control electronics in houses in August 2014.

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Jungah Lee

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