Amidst Increasing Security and Surveillance Concerns, Amazon Confirms Billion Dollar Acquisition of the Ring Video Doorbell

The online mega-retailer Amazon is acquiring Ring, manufacturer of an extraordinarily popular  and uniquely prominent line of video doorbells. Amazon's billion-dollar acquisition of the Ring Video Doorbell astonished many, but at the offset, its actually a very smart move.
The acquisition of Ring helps Amazon to take ownership of doorbell's existing customer base, and perhaps adds extra spice to Amazon Key, a new service that leverages smart home technology to allow for in-home package delivery. Using a smart lock to let a delivery person drop a package off inside your door is an ambitious pitch, and doing more to bring cameras into the equation might help head off potential privacy and security concerns.

For $250, Amazon Key allows Prime members to grant keyless access into their homes to select individuals, including delivery workers, dog walkers or house cleaners. The system works in conjunction with the Amazon Cloud Cam and a compatible smart lock. (Ring doorbells, by comparison, range in price from $179 to $499.) Two months ago, Amazon purchased a similar startup, Blink, which also makes video doorbells and home-security cameras.

About Ring and its wi-fi enabled Video Doorbell

Ring, based in Santa Monica, Calif., was founded six years ago with a single product, a WiFi-enabled video doorbell that allows homeowners to monitor their front doors using an app on their smartphones. A built-in motion detector alerts users when a visitor arrives at their doorstep, and gives them the choice to see, hear and speak to guests before they allow them in. The company has since introduced other products, including security cameras, home alarms, and WiFi-enabled smoke detectors and flood sensors.
“Ring’s home security products and services have delighted customers since day one,” an Amazon spokesman said in a statement. “We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure.”

Amazon’s Smart Answer to Google

A quick look at the Ring deal raises some new questions of its own. In case you are keeping a watch, Ring's video doorbell will be the 11th smart home product under Amazon's umbrella with either a built-in camera or microphone, joining the slew of Alexa-enabled smart speakers, the Amazon Cloud Cam and the Blink Doorbell Camera, which Amazon acquired in December 2017. And if you take into account that Ring also sells outdoor floodlight cameras, then that brings the total up to 12 in just a little over three years. Looking at the statistics, customers might be wanting to ask Amazon, why it's so inclined to do business in these type of devices.
Not to forget that the same is applicable to Google too, which also sells smart speakers and cameras, and which has a Nest-branded video doorbell of its own due for release in the coming months. The acquisition of Ring, is Amazon’s response to Google, only now Amazon gets a sizable head start in the number of installed smart doorbells.

Amazon Offers a Unified Shopping Experience

The Ring deal also helps Amazon further streamline its efforts in ruling the smart home with its supremacy over retail as well as expand further into the consumer market, including providing security for package deliveries. According to sources, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. advised Ring on the buyout. Amazon has been pushing hard for a bigger presence in homes through connected devices such as its Echo smart speaker with the voice-activated artificially intelligent virtual assistant named Alexa. Buying Ring gives the e-commerce giant another touch point with customers, said James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt & Co. With Alexa, Ring and Amazon Key, the retailer can offer a unified smart shopping experience, from the voice order to the warehouse and finally to delivery. Amazon's own courier service is also on the cards, just a matter of time.

I think with this deal Amazon is connecting your home to the Internet in a way that puts itself right at the center. The company has made it quite evident that it's ready to spend big in order to expand its business territory, and Ring seems like a pretty natural addition to the portfolio. We'll see if this acquisition leads to scores of new shoppers opening the door for Amazon's vision of the future. With its purchase of Ring, the company is doubling down on its efforts to dominate the fast-growing home-security market. But this isn’t the first time Amazon has taken interest in Ring. The company invested in the start-up two years ago through its Alexa fund, which provides venture capital for products that use voice technology. Ring, valued at about $760 million, has raised $209 million in funding to date, according to Pitchbook. The Ring acquisition also puts Amazon in more direct competition with security camera manufacturers such as Nest Labs Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Canary Connect Inc.