Jordan O'BrienAmazon is not content with letting Google dominate the smart home market with products like the Google Home and Nest Learning Thermostat. That’s why the company is bolstering its own smart home line-up through acquisitions, with the latest being smart doorbell manufacturer, Ring.
Ring has been a big hit with consumers looking for easy-to-use and easy-to-install smart home security solutions. Its internet-connected doorbell is one of the most popular DIY smart home products currently on the market, while the company also offers dedicated security cameras, floodlights, and even whole home security systems.
Since the launch of the Echo, Amazon has been a dominant player in the smart home market thanks to its ability to control countless third-party devices. Unfortunately, while it was able to sell the method of control, Amazon lacked any smart home devices of its own. That’s a problem Google didn’t have, as its ownership of Nest meant that it could enjoy selling the devices users want to power their homes, while also selling the means of control.
Ring is just the latest smart home acquisition for Amazon. In December 2017, the company announced that it had bought Blink, a smart home firm working on both smart security cameras and smart doorbell cameras. It seems that Amazon really wants to corner the market on those doorbell cameras.
Amazon paid more than $1bn to acquire Ring, with the company’s line-up likely to help bolster the retailer’s existing offerings – including Amazon Key and Amazon Cloud Cam. In a statement, a Ring spokesperson says: “Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighbourhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbours that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world.
“We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon.”
Ring will likely appreciate the deep pockets that Amazon will give it, after all the company is now in direct competition with Nest in the smart camera and doorbell market, and Nest has the entire war chest of Google at its disposal.
The Amazon-Ring acquisition represents a growing trend in the smart home industry. While the industry is growing in popularity, the number of companies offering solutions is shrinking thanks to consolidation. It’s likely that this trend is going to continue as Amazon, Apple and Google continue to fight for control of the smart home.