Samsung Electronics courts B2B clients with built-in, energy focus at IFA 2026

Ahead of IFA 2026, one of Europe's largest consumer electronics fairs, Samsung Electronics set up an exhibition space inside Humboldt Carré, a building of more than 100 years standing in central Berlin. The Samsung exhibition hall was bustling with B2B customers when visited on Friday (local time).

To win over corporate clients, the company highlighted built-in appliances and energy efficiency throughout the venue — two qualities European consumers prize. AI technology, Samsung said, also plays a role in cutting energy consumption.

The exhibition opens with a "Portal" designed to usher visitors into a new dimension. Stepping through it and climbing to the second floor, guests find a space where they can experience TVs, home appliances and Galaxy devices.

The centerpiece of the hall is a large lounge built for B2B customers and company representatives to connect in a relaxed setting. It was filled with local clients in meetings, and the VIP meeting rooms were fully booked.

With European clients as the primary audience, Samsung emphasized built-in design and energy efficiency at every turn. Europe is the birthplace of the built-in kitchen, a concept that became mainstream there as far back as the 1920s. Because older housing stock and historic city centers are common across the continent, European consumers tend to place a high premium on space efficiency in home appliances.

A standout example is the "Zero Clearance Fit" technology applied to Samsung's refrigerators. A slim door fitted with a specialized hinge allows the door to open fully even in the tightest spaces. Though a standard production model, it achieves a finish that is in effect equivalent to a built-in unit. The exhibition notes that a French-door refrigerator can be installed with as little as 4 millimeters of clearance on either side.

Samsung also showcased a washing machine that cuts energy use by more than 70 percent compared with Europe's top A energy rating. The company said the savings are made possible by AI technology — specifically an AI energy mode that calibrates water and power consumption to match the actual load.

SmartThings, which has found a strong following among European consumers, also contributes to energy savings. Concern about energy use has grown in the European market as climate change drives more extreme temperatures. SmartThings now has about 430 million users worldwide, with about 20 million of them in Germany alone.

Through its AI energy-saving mode, SmartThings tracks energy consumption and actively reduces power use. Samsung said the platform has collectively saved 10 million kilowatt-hours of energy to date — enough to charge an electric vehicle roughly 100,000 times.

An 85-inch Spatial Signage display designed for commercial spaces also drew considerable attention. Using Samsung's patented 3D Plate technology, it creates the vivid impression of a person standing inside the screen.

Samsung said the display can be deployed in stores to serve customers without a human staff member present. A live demonstration showed a customer asking questions about a Samsung TV through a microphone, with the on-screen figure responding using AI.

Internally, Samsung appears pleased with its decision to center the exhibition strategy on B2B clients. This year marks the first time since the company began participating in IFA in 1991 that it has set up an exhibition space outside the main Messe Berlin venue.

"Having an independent space separate from Messe Berlin allows us to meet customers more closely and communicate with them more directly," a Samsung Electronics official said. "The fact that we have the entire exhibition hall to ourselves is also a major advantage."