Is a newer hub for SmartThings ever anticipated? It’s my understanding that the Aeotec hub is simply the repackaged SmartThings v3 hub from 2018. That’s ancient in gadget years! I thought the recent ST platform transition might result in a new hub.
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It did result in several new hubs, but none of them are Aeotec and none of them support zwave. just Zigbee, Matter over Thread, and Matter over WiFi.
These include the new SmartThings Station (just released this year)
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-SmartThings-Station-Wireless-EP-P9500TBEGUS/dp/B0BRNST1JB/
And the new “hub everywhere” initiative which has similar protocol specs to the station and builds a hub of that type into Samsung televisions, appliances, and even sound bars, rather than needing an add-on dongle.
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As far as aeotec, they are continuing on a development path for some Z wave only hubs that will support the new zwave 800 long range. And they already offer a Z wave 700 z stick (The “works as a SmartThings Hub” is the prior generation Z wave 500.)
So the real question is whether smartthings will ever release an updated Z wave hub in partnership with Aeotec , and right now, no one seems to know. I suspect both companies are waiting to see whether matter takes off and, if it does, whether there is a Z wave bridge for it. 
See also the following thread:
SmartThings Head Jaeyeon Jung sheds light on challenges and platform evolution [Interview]
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Aeotec just released new z-stick, with z-wave 800 + zigbee all toghether: z-stick 10 pro. Is branded as working with Home Assistant. So the tech is there in aeotec, just looks a bit sad around smarthings hubs in terms of z-wave.
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Not only that. There are newer generations of multiprotocol SoCs with all kinds of improvements available.
And if you buy an Aeotec hub now, you don’t know when it was manufactured and how old the components are.
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Its pretty sad how old the v3 is and how outdated it is especially with how little memory it has. Just look at how many hubitat hubs have come out and the compatibility of home assistant… not to mention now theirs new players like the zbox and aqara… i like samsung but the v3 is a dinosaur in this world with no upgrade in sight and devs are leaving. Im thinking of going to hubitat soon myself. Id go to home assistant but i dont want to pay monthly for alexa and remote use and i cant be bothered with workarounds, so hubitat itll be.
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The business model and target customers have changed for ST IMO. Most ST users today don’t have a hub at all and of those that do, most have fewer that 20-25 devices. Samsung and ST now build in the ST hub with Zigbee/Thread/Wi-Fi radios into almost every TV and refrigerator being sold. If you do want a standalone hub, the ST Station was introduced within the last couple of year. Yes, it lacks Z-Wave but then so do the TV and fridge hubs. It certainly appears that ST is most committed to Matter over Wi-Fi/Thread and Zigbee gets to come along for the ride.
My impression is that the smart home enthusiast is no longer the target customer. Instead, it’s the customers of their TV’s and refrigerators that represent a much larger addressable market than just enthusiasts. Does that kinda suck, well yeah, but their business their choices. If Matter continues to evolve and become a more dominant force in the market, it will make it much easier for the average person to add more home automation devices vs the standalone hub enthusiast model that we’ve lived in for the last decade.
For my part, I’m living on the ST Wi-Fi Hub (Plume) which is now nearly 7-8 years old with functionality that continues to degrade. It will never have Matter which is why I added a Zigbee/Thread dongle to my fridge and purchased a ST Station. As my Z-Wave switches and outlets start to die, I’ve begun replacing them with Matter devices so having a future-proof Z-Wave hub isn’t something I’m looking for. In addition, I could also utilize my Echo Show 8 which also supports Zigbee/Thread/Wi-Fi and provides Matter support.
Times change and my feeling is that the days of the standalone smart home hub are beginning to wane for all but the most hard core enthusiasts.
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That logic of having an appliance act as a central smarthome hub, blows my mind… because appliances (especially samsung fridges) fail much more frequently then a hub. I mean to each their own… but even things like smart locks, the most common protocol is zwave and theirs still companies selling zwave devices. The fact that aeotec sells these all in one radios in a usb stick is great and a glimpse of hope.
But it sucks when you have 150 devices and now get a memory full message. Ive invested a lot into samsung with their tvs and washer and dryers because of smartthings integration. I really hope a v4 with all radios is a possibility.
I was even loking at homey pro, but then lg bought them and i immediately canned the thought of that purchase.
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Yep… is getting really dry in terms of long-term ST “hubbing”.
Few days passed and I have installed HA on my “nextcloud” ubuntu mini-pc. Seams like a nice co-installation. Adding first devices already with the previous z-stick 7 as a test. I value z-wave to much 
and been waiting for the 800 products to long to not start planning - up to 1km in range, 0,2W power consumption … all that left outside any lifecycle thinking at Samsung? Really?
BTW: stop thinking about paid subs for remote admin/dashboard access in HA or Homey or Hubitat etc., just setup VPN servers on your home router and setup VPN clients on mobiles/laptops to your local networks.
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But, you are simply emphasizing my point, you’re an enthusiast and not ST target customer. Most people couldn’t tell you what an Ubuntu mini-pc is much less set up HA.
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