Why it matters: It seems that Amazon's strategy for virtual assistant Alexa is simple: build as many products that support the AI as possible. According to a new report, eight smart items powered by Alexa will be announced before the end of this year.
CNBC reports that the voice-controlled appliances will include a microwave and an unspecified in-car gadget. There will also be several pieces of home audio equipment featuring Alexa support: an amplifier, receiver, and subwoofer.
"Alexa was initially considered a geeky experiment at Amazon. Now it is one of the most popular voice assistants, leading the growth of the burgeoning smart speaker market, which is expected to be worth $30 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights," writes the publication.
Several companies already make home appliances that support Alexa, including a microwave from GE and an amplifier and subwoofer from Sonos. It's unclear how many of Amazon's new products will come with Alexa directly built in and which ones will be Alexa-enabled---i.e., they can be controlled by an Amazon Echo or similar device.
The mysterious in-car gadget is interesting. Garmin already has an Alexa-compatible dash cam, and Amazon only recently launched an SDK for integrating Alexa into in-car entertainment systems.
Back in December, Amazon acquired smart home video platform Blink. A few months later, Jeff Bezos' firm paid more than $1 billion for video doorbell maker Ring, which may announce more products before the end of this year. Amazon is also secretly building a type of robot designed for the home, according to Bloomberg.
We might not have long to wait before discovering more about Amazon's new Alexa products. CNBC reports that at least some of the items will be revealed before the end of the month.