Samsung buys set top box maker Boxee

Samsung has announced the acquisition of Boxee, a US web TV service, for a reported $30 million.

The Boxee service enables subscribers to upload TV programmes onto its servers, from TVs to computers and smart devices, and is expected to enhance Samsung’s Smart TV offering.

Boxee announced the deal in a company blog where ‘Team Boxee’ said: “We have been at the forefront of the changing TV and video landscape. We believe that over the next few years the video market will change even more.

“Joining Samsung means we will be able to work on products that marry the best hardware and software in TV space, products that will be used by tens of millions of people and will help shape the future of TV.”

Informa Telecoms and Media claims that 54 million smart TVs were purchased worldwide in 2012 and they expect that number to quadruple to 221 million by 2017.

The purchase of Boxee could be a vital move as Samsung are still struggling to convince customers to use their services over more established competitors.

Speaking to the BBC, Paul Jackson, principal analyst at Informa said: “When people are going into stores they may end up with a smart TV by default but at the moment they have little desire to use their internet functions even if they have a fast enough connection.

“Boxee has been playing with its own TV user interface and has a good reputation for making a link between its hardware and a back-end service.”