Homes in KSA and UAE are getting smarter – Smart CIO in the Middle East

Customers are seeing the benefits of using intelligent AI assistants to manage their homes, visible through increased engagement.

Smart home devices are becoming increasingly popular in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as a total of six million smart devices are integrated into the daily lives of Alexa customers who enjoy the benefits of a connected smart home.

Customers turn to Alexa to control lights, air conditioners, TVs and cameras – one of the most popular categories of smart home devices. In 2023 alone, Alexa customers in KSA and the UAE initiated nearly 130 million smart home actions and over 100 million requests to listen to music, Quran and podcasts, totaling over 70 million listening hours.

Smart devices improve lifestyle

Throughout 2023, Alexa turned lights on and off more than 24 million times in homes across the UAE and KSA. Customers in these two countries turned to Alexa almost nine million times to control air conditioners using only voice, which is the second most used device category.

Middle Eastern customers typically have multiple compatible devices connected to Alexa, demonstrating the growing use of voice-enabled home automation. In 2023, there was a +50% y/y increase in the number of Smart Home customers compared to 2022, with a +90% y/y increase in the number of smart home devices connected to Alexa. No wonder Alexa has heard “I love you” over two million times in 2023 and received 60,000 marriage proposals!

Dr. Raf Fatani, Regional General Manager for Alexa at Amazon MENA, said: “The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are clearly excited to deploy cutting-edge technologies. We are honored by the pace of adoption of Alexa and our smart home devices, bringing ambient intelligence to everyday life across the region. Ambient intelligence connects AI, devices and services to deliver an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts. We have invested in local talent and resources to adapt our products to these markets, ensuring that Alexa and our devices meet customers’ unique needs. We are excited to be at the forefront of AI development in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and here we can enjoy an unwavering passion for customer obsession.”

Alexa seamlessly integrates with a wide range of smart home devices to simplify and automate customers’ lives. Amazon recently added a new feature for customers in the UAE and KSA to enable the multi-view option. This allows customers to view live video from up to four cameras, including Ring, on their multimodal devices. Customers can also ask Alexa to show recently active cameras or all cameras belonging to a specific group with a command like “Show cameras in my living room.”

Mohammad Meraj Hoda, Vice President, Business Development – MEA, Ring, said: “Ring is committed to providing our customers with peace of mind. We continue to focus on making homes more intuitive and making it easier to connect and control devices so that everything works together effortlessly.

The most popular smart home devices

Alexa customers in the UAE and KSA benefit from an integrated smart home hub on Echo devices, supporting various standards such as Zigbee, Sidewalk, Thread, Bluetooth and Matter, enabling easy control of compatible lights, locks and sensors.

The most popular smart home lighting brands in the UAE are Smart Life, Xiaomi and Surplife. In the TV segment, the top brands connected to Alexa are Samsung, LG and Broadlink IR Remote. When it comes to cameras, Ring, Eufy and TP Link dominate in the region. When it comes to air conditioning, customers in the region turn to Smart Life, LG and Honeywell.

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