Considering the competition from Apple, Google, and many others, Amazon wants any edge it can get in the smart home devices race. They even announced plans of an Amazon “smart house“. But the tech giant faces even more competition in that realm including smaller firms like Alcove.
How will Eero help Alexa get a leg-up on her rivals?
A Simple Solution for WiFi Boosting
In a press release on February 11th, Amazon first announced its acquisition of Eero. The release even plugs the product’s star rating on Amazon — it’s a 4.6.
But Eero’s focus lies in a home mesh WiFi system — think of it as a WiFi booster.
This means that any home can have largely dispersed and dependable WiFi connections throughout their home. So, naturally, Amazon finds this feature appealing; WiFi is, after all, key in smart homes.
Despite Amazon’s happiness over the deal, long-term Eero users weren’t so pleased. They raised issues of privacy concerns over what Amazon might do with their private data.
Amazon Acquisitions Hint at Big Things to Come
Amazon acquired the company for an “undisclosed amount”. Given Amazon’s desire to become the top name in the smart home game, the purchase makes perfect sense.
But this isn’t the only move Amazon made in the last few years.
They also spent around $1-billion to purchase Ring (a smart doorbell producer) last year. Amazon also acquired Blink a home security system, in 2017 along with Graphiq and Body Labs that year.
All of these purchases signal at more ambitious moves into the smart home market.
Moreover, Eero doesn’t have much competition in its own market (I.E. mesh WiFi systems). This likely indicates that Amazon further wants to one-up Google who acquired Nest in 2014.
Hopefully, Alexa and her smart home foray fare better than Samsung’s assistant Bixby.
Comments (0)
Most Recent