Pre-orders sold out twice; launch livestream set for Monday
Zigbang, an AI-driven residential technology company, announced Wednesday that it has rebranded its smart home business under the name Soma and launched its first product under the new label — a connected door lock called the Soma Care P1, designed with child safety in mind. The move converts the "Zigbang Smart Home" operation, which the company has run since acquiring Samsung SDS's home Internet of Things division in 2022, into a standalone brand as Zigbang accelerates its push into premium residential markets at home and abroad.
Soma combines the door lock, wall pad and lobby phone hardware technology that Samsung SDS's home IoT division built over 25 years with Zigbang's AI and digital platform capabilities. Zigbang inherited a business portfolio that includes digital door locks with cumulative global sales of more than 10 million units and a home network operation deployed in more than 10 million households, and has evolved those assets under the Soma brand.
Soma is already present in more than nine countries. Operating under the brand slogan "The Home That Moves First," it aims to deliver a residential AI experience in which the home anticipates and responds to situations without requiring the user to intervene.
The Soma Care P1, unveiled alongside the brand launch, sends real-time alerts to a parent's smartphone when a child arrives home and notifies parents immediately in emergencies such as break-ins or fires. The lock uses AI fingerprint recognition that grows more precise as it learns subtle changes in a user's fingerprint, and places the sensor on a fold-type handle so the door can be opened in a single motion — gripping and pulling. The exterior features a full die-cast metal body and an ergonomic signature handle, and the lock supports a smartphone mobile key to eliminate the risks of password exposure or lost keys.
The product sold out in both pre-order rounds held Oct. 1 and Oct. 12, with the first round closing within an hour of opening. It is available through the official website, Naver's brand store and Coupang Inc.
Zigbang will host a Naver Shopping livestream at 7 p.m. Monday as a launch event, offering customers who submit a photo review 20,000 won ($15) in Naver Pay points as part of a launch promotion.
In line with the rebrand, Zigbang has merged the existing Zigbang Smart Home app into the Soma app and overhauled its official website (smarthome.zigbang.com) under the Soma identity. The changes are intended to deliver a consistent brand experience across the entire customer journey — from purchase and installation to ongoing management — and the app includes in-app guidance to ease the transition for existing users.
"The front door is the most critical space in a home for detecting what is happening inside," Zigbang Chief Executive Ahn Seong-woo said. "By layering AI technology on top of 25 years of proven hardware, we will create a living environment where the home judges situations and acts on its own — and we will take that vision to global markets."
Meanwhile, Zigbang operates a comprehensive proptech platform spanning mobile property listings, apartment complex information services, residential convenience services and smart home devices, covering the full residential lifecycle.
hwshin@heraldcorp.com
