According to an Amazon report, smart home devices are becoming increasingly prevalent in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with a total of six million smart devices integrated into Alexa customers' daily lives, enjoying the benefits of a connected smart home.
According to the report, customers are using Alexa to control the most popular smart home device categories, including lights, air conditioners, TVs and cameras.
In 2023 alone, Alexa customers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE initiated approximately 130 million smart home actions and more than 100 million requests to listen to music, Quran, and podcasts, totaling more than 70 million hours of listening.
Throughout 2023, Alexa turned lights on and off more than 24 million times in homes across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while customers in the two countries used Alexa nearly 9 million times to control their air conditioners using only their voice, making this the second most used device category.
Customers in the Middle East typically own multiple compatible Alexa-connected devices, indicating growing adoption of voice-enabled home automation.
There was a 50% year-over-year increase in smart home customers in 2023 compared to 2022, and the number of Alexa-connected smart home devices increased 90% year-over-year.
It's no wonder that in 2023, Alexa has heard “I love you” over 2 million times and received 60,000 marriage proposals.
Dr Rafe Fatani, Amazon's general manager for Alexa in MENA, said: “The UAE and Saudi Arabia have embraced cutting-edge technology with palpable excitement. We've been impressed with the rapid adoption of Alexa and our smart home devices, welcoming ambient intelligence into everyday life across the region.”
“Ambient intelligence brings together AI, devices and services to deliver experiences that are greater than the sum of their parts. We are investing in local talent and resources to customise products for these markets, ensuring Alexa and our devices serve unique customer needs. We are excited to be at the forefront of AI advancements in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and have an unwavering customer-centric passion here,” he added.
He said Alexa seamlessly integrates with a host of smart home devices to simplify and automate customers' lives. Amazon recently added a new feature that enables multi-view options for customers in the UAE and KSA.
This allows customers to see live feeds from up to four cameras, including Ring, on a multimodal device. Customers can also ask Alexa to show them which cameras were recently active or all cameras that belong to a particular group with commands like “show me the living room cameras,” he added.
“At Ring, our goal is to provide peace of mind to our customers, and we remain focused on making the home more intuitive, making it easier to connect and control your devices so that everything works together effortlessly,” said Mohammad Meraj Hoda, vice president of business development, MEA, Ring.
Alexa customers in the UAE and KSA enjoy a smart home hub integrated into their Echo devices that supports a range of standards including Zigbee, Sidewalk, Thread, Bluetooth and Matter, allowing for easy control of compatible lights, locks and sensors.
The most used lighting brands in Saudi Arabia's smart homes are Smart Life, Tuya and Sonoff. In the television space, the top brands connected to Alexa are Samsung, LG and Broadlink IR Remote, Hoda said.
When it comes to cameras, Ring, EZVIZ and Tapo are leading the way, while when it comes to climate control, Saudi Arabian customers are using Broadlink IR Remote, Smart Life and Midea, he added.
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