Amazon.com announced yesterday the acquisition of smart home company, Ring. The $1 billion-plus price tag represents Amazon's second largest ever acquisition (the online giant paid $13.6 billion for Whole Foods). Recode reports Ring is now being bought for somewhere between $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion. The startup recently authorized a fundraising round that would have valued the company at about $1 billion. Both companies confirmed the acquisition in a statement to Geekwire. “Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities and the world,” Ring said in a statement. “We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon.”
Total Retail’s Take: The acquisition of Ring is the next step for Amazon in home delivery services. Last year, the online retail giant announced the Amazon Key program in a beta phase. Previously, to make Amazon Key possible, Amazon introduced its own $120 internet-connected security camera called Amazon Cloud Cam. Now, with its acquisition of Ring, Amazon has gotten the upper hand on competitors, notably Walmart, when it comes to smart home delivery technology. While smart home technology and the in-home delivery of online orders seems to be a growing trend, as a consumer I feel it crosses the line from convenient to creepy.
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