Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will invest 10 billion yuan (1,41 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI) and IOT (Internet of Things) for its smart Genie dynamics Tmall, the company said on Wednesday.
the Money will be spent on developing its own technology, and adding content to the column. This initiative was announced in connection with the fact that the Chinese giant e-Commerce continues to promote new technologies and develop new business lines beyond the usual online shopping.
the Investment is aimed at expanding ecosystem Tmall Genie by integrating more content and services Alibaba, ranging from entertainment to healthcare, education and online shopping, said in a statement the company made Wednesday.
under the initiative from 1 July mini-app payment platform Alipay can be integrated with Tmall Genie. Consumers can also watch Live Taobao shopping channel streaming Alibaba Taobao Marketplace Tmall through the screen Genie.
in addition, the investment will allow to implement more technology AIoT developed within the company, including the operating system, IoT, peripheral computing, as well as visual and voice AI, the company said.
the statement said that Tmall Genie will share their technology, skills, design products and methods to create content and services with partners for the joint development of knowledge products such as refrigerators, robot vacuum cleaners and smart casual wear.
the First model of Tmall Genie appeared in 2017 and, as a contention similar to the American Amazon Echo, a Chinese column can be controlled via voice commands to play music, give weather information and perform other functions. The latest model of the column is 549 yuan (us$77,28) and comes with a 10-inch screenanom.
Alibaba competes with Xiaomi Corp and Baidu Inc in the sector of intelligent acoustic systems. According to the research company Canalys, in 2019, Alibaba has provided customers with 16.8 million smart speakers, whereas the supply of its main competitor Baidu amounted to 17.3 million units.
According to IDC, China is one of the fastest growing markets intelligent acoustic systems in the world, last year showed “explosive growth” of the supply device 110 percent. Top brands are Alibaba, search giant Baidu and smartphone maker Xiaomi and home appliance Corp, which account for over 90 percent of the market of smart-speakers of China.
the Sector of smart columns is very important for Chinese vendors that helped to organize the supply of these connected devices worldwide. These companies see the potential of penetration into a huge new user base, as more consumers in the home start to get used to interact with devices using voice commands.
Despite a sharp drop in sales in the first quarter due to pandemic coronavirus, according to IDC, shipments of intelligent acoustic systems in China is projected to grow by 9.8% in 2020.
