Samsung's supposedly smart televisions weren't acting so smart earlier this week when millions of its customers all over the world were unable to access online services such as Netflix and Youtube.

Users, including thousands in Ireland, who tried to access the company’s Smarthub services - including all streaming services and apps - were initially told that the problem rested with individual Internet Services Providers (ISPs).

However when contacted, ISPs were unable to identify the cause of the problem and quickly pointed the finger at the manufacturer.

Some users who made contact with The Irish Times spoke of their frustration at Samsung's failure to admit in a timely fashion that it was experiencing major problems with its software.

The company eventually established that an update to its Smart Hub server was to blame.

“During this process, it was reported that some of our customers in certain countries encountered difficulties in connecting their Smart TVs to the server,” the company said it a statement released on Thursday afternoon.

It said its SmartHub had made some less than smart mistakes when matching country codes with its own servers.

The issue has now been resolved and the company has apologise for any inconvenience.