Samsung and Tesla Enter a Partnership
Ahead of CES 2024, Samsung announced it would partner with electric car maker Tesla on energy management for smart homes. Users of Samsung’s SmartThings platform will be able to connect Tesla products like the Powerwall home battery, Solar Inverter, and its vehicles in order to keep track of energy production and usage. The partnership is made possible via Tesla’s API and when connected will allow SmartThings Energy to track several Tesla products.
The Circana Take:
- Energy solutions were everywhere at CES 2024 and as adoption of electric vehicles increases, owners will desire better home infrastructure for charging.
- In Tesla, SmartThings has found a partner with a large installed base of electric vehicle (and wall charger) owners presenting a good opportunity to drive adoption of the Samsung platform.
Amazon Ponders a Paid Version of Alexa
e-Commerce giant Amazon is looking for way to monetize Alexa over the millions of devices the application is installed on. A report from Business Insider suggests the retailer might be launching a paid version of Alexa. The so-called Alexa Plus would feature generative AI providing users with more detailed responses that better answer their queries. Though there are few details, Amazon is expected to launch the service by the end of June this year- this comes on the heels of reports last fall suggesting users were already helping to test a more supped up version of Alexa codenamed ‘Remarkable Alexa”.
The Circana Take:
- Though voice assistants have become practically ubiquitous on many consumer electronics products, users are mostly leveraging the applications for quick hit information (like sports scores), to set timers, or to control their smart devices. Boosting the depth of intelligence in these assistants could potentially drive increased usage, creating more value for users.
- More powerful applications could also drive users to engage in more monetizable activities (such as shopping) or create opportunities for marketing and advertising.