From February 2nd to 4th, North America’s largest heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) trade show, the International Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Exhibition (AHR Expo), was held in Las Vegas. Sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), this year’s event brought together more than 1,800 global companies to showcase the latest technology and industry trends from around the world.
At the exhibition, Samsung Electronics operated a 350 square meter booth and presented its vision for next-generation HVAC solutions under the theme “Enabling a Better Life.” From residential to commercial applications, Samsung has demonstrated how AI-powered energy management and advanced maintenance innovations can deliver tangible benefits in real-world environments.
Samsung Newsroom interviewed Hye-seong Baek, Vice President of Digital Appliance (DA) Business at Samsung Electronics, to discuss the company’s HVAC innovation and strategy.
Q. What were the main factors behind Samsung’s participation in this year’s AHR Expo?
Since its first official debut in 2015, Samsung has shown off its latest innovations every year at AHR Expo. Additionally, North America is the world’s second-largest HVAC market, making it an important arena for the industry’s most cutting-edge technologies to compete.
At this year’s exhibition, Samsung worked directly with partners to share its differentiated business vision and AI-based HVAC solutions, while further strengthening medium- to long-term partnerships based on mutual trust.
Q. What are the main products and solutions showcased at this year’s Expo?
Samsung announced a wide range of solutions that bring greater convenience and connectivity to a variety of industrial applications and customer environments.
In the commercial sector, Samsung announced DVM S2+, a high-efficiency, high-capacity air conditioning solution with significantly enhanced AI capabilities. At the heart of this is on-device AI that learns from the environment in real-time to achieve optimal indoor comfort while minimizing energy consumption.
In line with housing sustainability trends, Samsung targets single homes in North America1 Introducing Hylex, an inverter-based outdoor unit that utilizes low global warming potential (GWP), to the market2 Adopts R454B refrigerant as the main product. The newly introduced Hylex features inverter technology that delivers high energy efficiency, low noise, and a compact design tailored to North American consumer preferences.
Samsung has also enhanced its EHS lineup of air-water heat pumps (AWHPs) for domestic use, maximizing the efficiency of hot water and space heating while providing a practical alternative to traditional fossil fuel boilers.
Q. At CES this year, Samsung shared its vision for HVAC solutions to serve as a new growth engine. Why is Samsung increasingly focusing on the HVAC sector?
HVAC is a core technology that regulates temperature and humidity throughout residential, commercial, and industrial facilities, and the HVAC department plays an important role in supporting daily life by providing optimal air conditions in these spaces. The market has gained further momentum in recent years amid global efforts to combat climate change and comprehensive regulations on green energy use. Going forward, Samsung expects the market to grow at a steady growth rate of approximately 5% annually.
Samsung is focusing on expanding its HVAC services related to smart homes and smart cities. By integrating Samsung’s AI technology and SmartThings across the broader HVAC market, Samsung expects strong potential to create meaningful synergies, from remote maintenance to energy cost optimization.
Q. What do you think are the key trends shaping the U.S. HVAC market in 2026?
The main trends in the US market this year are sustainability and high efficiency. Environmental regulations, such as the adoption of low GWP refrigerants, continue to extend into the commercial sector with the introduction of new design and installation standards. In response, the market is moving away from energy-intensive fixed-speed air conditioners to high-efficiency inverter heat pump systems.
In the residential sector, the demand for environmentally friendly HVAC heat pumps is steadily increasing, while in the commercial sector, the adoption of VRF (variable refrigerant flow) systems is accelerating. This has led to increased diversification across HVAC solutions, while the growing demand for AI data centers and high-performance computing is driving the growth of precision cooling systems as an increasingly important market segment.
Additionally, AI-based predictive maintenance and optimization technologies are becoming more prevalent, along with comfort and energy-saving solutions enabled by a variety of IoT sensors, with improved energy and operational efficiency emerging as a key industry trend.
Q. What sets Samsung apart from its competitors in the competitive North American HVAC market?
In North America, the residential segment accounts for approximately 70% of the HVAC market, and the commercial segment accounts for approximately 30%. In the residential sector, Samsung is expanding its regional distribution network with Samsung Lennox HVAC North America, a joint venture with leading residential HVAC provider Lennox. Through this venture, Samsung will leverage its energy-efficient inverter-based ductless product lineup.
In the commercial sector, Samsung is working closely with the recently acquired FläktGroup, Europe’s largest HVAC equipment provider. Together, the two companies will provide comprehensive customized solutions centered around modular chillers.3 Tailored for high-value applications such as data centers and clean rooms.
Above all, Samsung’s most distinctive strength lies in the hyper-connectivity enabled by SmartThings and SmartThings Pro. In residential environments, this means a continuously evolving experience as a result of seamless connectivity, while in commercial environments it manifests as advanced solutions that significantly improve energy optimization and maintenance efficiency throughout the building.
Q. What are Samsung’s goals in the North American HVAC market?
The goal is clear. Leveraging advanced technology and a diverse product portfolio, we aim to emerge as a leading HVAC player in the North American market.
Leveraging Samsung’s unique strengths in the ductless sector, Samsung plans to expand into the duct market where centralized systems are the norm through strategic synergies with FläktGroup. By combining Samsung’s cooling technology with FläktGroup’s advanced cooling solutions, Samsung provides an optimized solution for data center applications.
In parallel, Samsung will continue to accelerate the rollout of low-GWP products and further strengthen its AI-powered energy-saving technologies. Through these initiatives, Samsung aims to provide a differentiated and integrated energy management experience to consumers in the North American residential market, where heating and cooling account for a significant share of electricity consumption.
