Samsung Elec. at the top in wearable technology in IP count ahead of Apple

[Photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co.]

Samsung Electronics Co. tops in wearable technology with richest patents, ahead of Apple Inc. whose Apple Watch is synonymous with wrist wearable.

According to the patent asset index (PAI) by global patent analytics firm LexisNexis, Samsung Electronics topped the list of world’s top 30 innovative firms in the wearable technology intellectual property (IP).

PAI, developed by LexisNexis, is a measure to evaluate the global technological strength and influence of patents. Using the index, the New York-based analytics firm has picked wearables, machine learning, and autonomous driving as three state-of-the-art technologies that have been intensively invested and developed by global firms in the past 10 years.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are two Korean names in the world’s top 30 innovative companies in the three core technologies. Alphabet Inc. and Intel of the U.S., China’s Huawei, and Japan’s Sony and Panasonic were ranked high in the three categories.

In wearables, including smart electronic devices, such as smart watches, in-body sensors, video goggles, and virtual reality (VR) tools, Samsung Electronics ranked first with the largest number of patents. In 2012, it had bee No. 5.

The Korean tech giant has overtaken Alphabet, Sony, Microsoft, and Apple, in the wearable technology IPs through the momentum of its 2016 acquisition of Harman International that holds abundant IPs in augmented reality (AR) technology, head-up display, and optical/ voice recognition technology.

Apple ranked first in the wearables category in 2012 and stayed there until it was toppled by Samsung in 2019.

Other top players in the wearables category included platform firms, medical equipment producers, and AR/ VR developers. Meta ranked seventh. It has intensively invested in wearable technology, representing 18 percent of its patents. The firm’s takeover of VR developer Oculus in 2014 intensified its technological competitiveness.

Microsoft and Sony have been in the top rankings. Magic Leap, an American startup in AR solutions, jumped to fifth place, tripling its patent volume in less than five years in the wearable category.

Other Korean firms including LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor and LG Display have shown strength in wearable IPs, according to the analysis.

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