Samsung eyes autonomous driving market with Harman deal
South Korean conglomerate Samsung is set to follow IBM and Qualcomm and enter the self-driving car sector, following its $8bn acquisition of audio and auto parts supplier Harman. A formal announcement at the Frankfurt motor show is expected to reveal that it has set up an autonomous and advanced driver assistance services (ADAS) unit. "Samsung has been incubating this business for quite a while," said company president Young Sohn. The firm expects to have a viable autonomous strategy by 2020, and recently secured licences for pilot projects in South Korea and California.

“It’s time to communicate our intent to enter the autonomous driving market,” Young Sohn, the company’s president and chief strategy officer, told Reuters. “Samsung has been incubating this business for quite a while.”

Samsung is set to announce on Thursday at the Frankfurt Motor Show that it has set up an automotive strategic business unit for autonomous and advanced driver assistance services (ADAS), together with a $300-million fund to invest in automotive start-ups and technology.