Korean giant Samsung Electronics hasn’t had the coziest relationship with Silicon Valley, where its epic legal battles with Apple have arguably received more attention than the runaway success of its Galaxy line of smartphones.
That could soon change. In recent months Samsung has broken ground on a new, 385,000-square-foot research center in Mountain View, Calif., opened a startup accelerator in the heart of downtown Palo Alto, and attempted to woo local talent by hosting its first-ever “global” developer conference in San Francisco. “The Bay Area is the hotbed of innovation,” says Curtis Sasaki, a senior vice president with Samsung’s new Media Solutions Center in San Jose. (Samsung has had a low-profile operation in that city for about three decades. Who knew?)
Making a bigger splash with local startups and developers is a smart and timely move for the hardware company, which recognizes that it needs to push itself into software and services to become more “sticky” with consumers. Samsung sells some of the world’s most popular phones, TVs, and other gadgets, but unlike rivals Apple and Google, it doesn’t control the underlying operating system and applications that run on them.
The company’s spacious research center in Mountain View opens next year, but its downtown Palo Alto-based startup incubator is already open for business. In true Silicon Valley style, Samsung has outfitted the comfy digs — on the second floor of a former Borders store — with a Ping-Pong table, massage chair, and lots of free snacks. It also brought in a former Google executive, David Eun, to run the place. (Eun also oversees the company’s broader, software-focused Open Innovation Center, which is tasked with incubating, investing in, and acquiring startups.) The space isn’t close to capacity yet, but current startups-in-residence say more entrepreneurs are being added on a regular basis.
Samsung’s recent two-day developer confab gave attendees a firsthand peek at the company’s newest software tools, and offered tutorials on creating apps for its TVs, phones, and other devices. Afterward, conference-goers were treated to an event at San Francisco’s Exploratorium museum, featuring a deejay and a guest appearance by veteran comedian Damon Wayans. (Wayans is also a digital media startup founder. Again — who knew?)
To be sure, Samsung is not the first outsider to try to tap into Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial roots. And no amount of Google-like perks or gimmicky parties will guarantee the company’s success in a more flexible, software-driven future. But it’s no secret that the Valley’s in-demand developers like to be lavishly courted — and paid. And with $188 billion in annual revenue, Samsung has plenty of money to spend on both.
This story is from the November 18, 2013 issue of Fortune.