Amazon has added a new asset in its quest to conquer the smart home market. The e-commerce giant has acquired Ring, a vendor of video doorbells and security cameras.
Amazon has agreed to spend over $1 billion on the acquisition, according to Reuters.
In an email, an Amazon spokesman told PCMag: "Ring's home security products and services have delighted customers since day one. We're excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure."
A Ring spokeswoman said that the Ring brand will remain.
The acquisition occurs as Amazon has been pushing its smart speaker Echo products into consumer homes. Powering them has been Amazon's voice assistant Alexa, which can answer queries and control other smart home appliances like light bulbs, door locks, and power plugs.
Amazon and Ring didn't offer details to the deal, but the two companies will probably integrate their products together. The video doorbells and security cameras from Ring can let you view incoming visitors or intruders over your smartphone.
Last November, Amazon also launched a new "in-home delivery" service. It works through the help of a smart door lock that delivery workers can use to drop off packages inside your home. The Ring acquisition may very well end up playing a role in that service too.
However, Amazon is far from the only company in the smart home space. One of its biggest competitors is Google, which is also selling a smart doorbell product through the Nest brand. Like Amazon, Google has been promoting its smart speaker products, which are powered by the company's own virtual assistant software.