The South Korean tech giant, Samsung, acquired Viv Labs back in October 2016.
The South Korean tech giant, Samsung, again came into the limelight as the company recently disclosed the terms of its acquisition agreement of a virtual assistant startup, dubbed as Viv Labs. As per the conditions of the agreement, Samsung paid approximately 238.93 million Korean won on October 7, which equals to almost $215 million.
It is worth mentioning that Viv Labs previously built Apple’s Siri virtual assistant, and is now a subsidiary of Samsung. Reports indicate that the San Jose-based startup received a funding of approximately $30 million before Samsung acquired it. The news also suggests that the South Korean tech giant has big plans for its upcoming flagship smartphone, Galaxy S8.
The tech giant plans to introduce its flagship smartphone, Galaxy S8, on March 29. However, rumors are making rounds in the tech space that the company is planning to include Bixby virtual assistant and not Viv. Also, it is pertinent to note that Samsung leading rival, Apple, has acquired it virtual assistant, Siri, for almost $200 million in 2010. For the unfamiliar, Apple first introduced Siri in iPhone 4 in 2011.
Interestingly enough, many tech gurus believe that Samsung is planning to go head-to-head with LG’s G6, which offers Google Assistant akin to Google’s smartphones, Pixel and Pixel XL. In addition, the search engine giant aims to integrate Assistant in its other devices via the Google App.
In any case, the South Korean tech giant hopes that the acquisition of Viv Labs will help it muster additional market share in the smartphone industry. However, it is yet to see whether the company’s decision to acquire Viv Labs will prove to be fruitful or not.
