Q&A: SmartThings and Tuya on Building a Smarter Tomorrow

How can we make your life easier? That’s the question driving the smart solutions that SmartThings and our partners, like Tuya, deliver every day.

Tuya is a leading cloud platform service provider that works with and for developers to create the devices that make our lives smarter.  Users can control these Tuya-enabled devices seamlessly using the SmartThings app.

In our latest LinkedIn Q&A, we chatted with Tuya to discuss our partnership, the future of AI technology, how their solutions work with SmartThings, and more. Browse the highlights below or keep reading for the full conversation. 

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The Highlights

SmartThings: Why is our partnership so significant? 

Tuya: Our collaboration stands out for several key reasons:

• Seamless Interoperability: Together, we’re breaking down barriers with Matter protocol integration, offering a seamless smart home experience across Tuya and SmartThings ecosystems. 
• Expanded Consumer Choice: Customers can gain access to a wider range of smart home solutions, blending the SmartThings app with the versatility of Tuya-enabled devices.
• Simplified Control:  Customers experience the ultimate convenience with a single app to manage their entire smart home ecosystem. 

But the most important aspect is that we both share a vision for a smarter tomorrow, where technology seamlessly enhances our lives. That is what we are working towards as we continue to deliver cutting-edge solutions for a more comfortable, convenient, and sustainable future.

SmartThings: That’s very well said! We’re eager to see how our collaboration unfolds. Speaking of progress, congratulations are in order! It is Tuya’s 10th anniversary this year. Reflecting on the past 10 years, what are some of your most significant accomplishments? 

Tuya: Reflecting on Tuya’s decade of innovation, we’ve achieved important milestones in three key areas:

• Firstly, we’ve upgraded our developer platform, developed Cube AI & AI Energy Saving Dashboard, refreshed Smart Commercial SaaS, and introduced Home & Building Energy Management Systems. These endeavors have bolstered our portfolio and pushed the boundaries of smart technology.
• Secondly, our thriving developer community and global partnerships have accelerated smart industry growth. Integration with Matter applications, alongside collaborations like SmartThings, has enhanced user convenience and fostered intelligent, eco-friendly experiences.
• Thirdly, we’ve achieved quarterly profit in Q2 2023 and Non-GAAP profitability in Q1 of this year, which underscores our resilient growth and commitment to sustainable success.

Looking ahead, we’re integrating generative AI into our offerings to enable global developers, while revolutionizing user interactions. Confident in our leadership, we’ll continue delivering value to clients and users.

SmartThings: Tell us more about your developer solutions and how they work! 

Tuya: We offer a cutting-edge cloud developer platform, with extensive development tools and support for swift, efficient smart device and application creation. Customers can leverage devices as connectivity nodes to create differentiated smart solutions to enhance products, optimize user experiences, and boost commercial success.

For device connectivity, we support mainstream protocols across industries (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Matter) and mainstream ecosystem platforms especially Samsung SmartThings, enabling seamless integration.

Moreover, we support more than 2,800 device categories, allowing developers to customize products for their business needs.

For customers seeking all-in-one integrated solutions, we provide comprehensive support for various vertical application scenarios, facilitating one-stop deployment through software-hardware synergy. For those who prefer private deployment, our Cube Cloud solution caters to enterprise-level Cloud-edge-end privatization, enabling exclusive smart management systems tailored to client requirements. 

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Our full conversation with Tuya

SmartThings: Hey, Tuya! Thank you for joining us for a Q&A today. For those who are new to your brand, what is Tuya? 

Tuya: Hey, SmartThings! Thanks for having us. Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391) is a global leading cloud platform service provider with a mission to build a smart solutions developer ecosystem that enables everything to be smart. 

Tuya has pioneered a purpose-built cloud developer platform with cloud and generative AI capabilities that delivers a full suite of offerings, including Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS, Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, and smart solutions for developers of smart device, commercial applications, and industries. 

Through its cloud developer platform, Tuya has activated a vibrant global developer community of brands, OEMs, AI Agents, system integrators, and independent software vendors to collectively strive for a smart solutions ecosystem embodying the principles of green and low-carbon, security, high-efficiency, agility, and openness.

SmartThings: Why is our partnership so significant? 

Tuya: Our collaboration stands out for several key reasons:

• Seamless Interoperability: Together, we’re breaking down barriers with Matter protocol integration, offering a seamless smart home experience across Tuya and SmartThings ecosystems. 
• Expanded Consumer Choice: Gain access to a wider range of smart home solutions, blending the SmartThings app with the versatility of Tuya-enabled devices.
• Simplified Control: Experience the ultimate convenience with a single app to manage the entire smart home ecosystem. 

But the most important aspect is that we both share a vision for a smarter tomorrow, where technology seamlessly enhances our lives. That is what we are working towards as we continue to deliver cutting-edge solutions for a more comfortable, convenient, and sustainable future.

SmartThings: That’s very well said! We’re eager to see how our collaboration unfolds. Speaking of progress, congratulations are in order! It is Tuya’s 10th anniversary this year. Reflecting on the past 10 years, what are some of the most significant accomplishments? 

Tuya: Reflecting on Tuya’s decade of innovation, we’ve achieved important milestones in three key areas:

• Firstly, we’ve upgraded our developer platform, developed Cube AI & AI Energy Saving Dashboard, refreshed Smart Commercial SaaS, and introduced Home & Building Energy Management Systems. These endeavors have bolstered our portfolio and pushed the boundaries of smart technology.
• Secondly, our thriving developer community and global partnerships have accelerated smart industry growth. Integration with Matter applications, alongside collaborations like SmartThings, have enhanced user convenience and fostered intelligent, eco-friendly experiences.
• Thirdly, we’ve achieved quarterly profit in Q2 2023 and Non-GAAP profitability in Q1 of this year, which underscores our resilient growth and commitment to sustainable success.

Looking ahead, we’re integrating generative AI into our offerings to enable global developers, while revolutionizing user interactions. Confident in our leadership, we’ll continue delivering value to clients and users.

SmartThings: Tell us more about your developer solutions and Tuya-enabled devices and how they work! 

Tuya: We offer a cutting-edge cloud developer platform, with extensive development tools and support for swift, efficient smart device and application creation. Customers can leverage devices as connectivity nodes to create differentiated smart solutions to enhance products, optimize user experiences, and boost commercial success.

For device connectivity, we support mainstream protocols across industries (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Matter) and mainstream ecosystem platforms especially Samsung SmartThings, enabling seamless integration.

Moreover, we support more than 2,800 device categories, allowing developers to customize products for their business needs.

For customers seeking all-in-one integrated solutions, we provide comprehensive support for various vertical application scenarios, facilitating one-stop deployment through software-hardware synergy. For those who prefer private deployment, our Cube Cloud solution caters to enterprise-level Cloud-edge-end privatization, enabling exclusive smart management systems tailored to client requirements. 

Given this, why are developers so important for the IoT market? 

SmartThings: Developers are essential to building and launching user-friendly IoT products that make life more enjoyable, productive, and sustainable for consumers and businesses.

Helping developers build these products and bring them to market is very important, and we applaud the work Tuya has done for their IoT Developer community.  

At SmartThings, we also work very closely with our developer community, as their partnership and feedback are vital to how SmartThings functions and how integrations work now and in the future. 

Additionally, we’ve heavily invested in our Developer Center to help our diverse device partners succeed, integrate with SmartThings, and reach users worldwide.

Our Developer Center offers a range of tools, including:

1. A Getting Started Wizard, Documentation, and Code Samples.  
2. A no-code Edge Driver builder and SmartThings Command Line Interface for development.
3. A Certification Console featuring a new Test Suite and product management tools so developers can quickly submit their devices to integrate with SmartThings, such as Certification by Similarity and Product Cloning. 
4. New post-certification analytics to track product usage and options for users to buy products directly from our partners.

We are here to support our developers every step of the way and are grateful for our partnerships.

SmartThings: How does/will AI play a role in the future?

Tuya: AI will play a pivotal role in shaping the future by enhancing efficiency, driving innovation, improving decision-making, addressing global challenges, and transforming industries like healthcare, transportation, and education. For instance, in energy-saving scenarios, our Cube AI analyzes real-time consumption to generate optimal strategies, offering cutting-edge AI technology and product value. Its application potential spans diverse smart scenarios, addressing issues like energy conservation and management in industrial, commercial, and household settings.

Additionally, we create AI development tools for global developers, including the AI Developer Kit integrating large language models and platforms for efficient development, operation, and commercialization. AI Analyst, a practical solution for brand customers, also provides valuable insights and assistance. 

Looking ahead, we will continue to embrace AI and implement AI in different scenarios, expanding our offerings to cover safety, plant breeding, environmental management, healthcare, pet companionship, and more.

SmartThings: That was very informative! Thank you to our partners at Tuya for chatting with us today! Want to know more? #DoTheSmartThings and drop a note in the comments. 

Tuya: Thank you for having us, SmartThings!