It has been announced that Amazon Alexa enabled devices will be launching for Mexico soon. This is the first foray of the technology into Latin America which is a significant strategic opportunity for Amazon. The Echo device will be available for the Mexican market later in the year.
The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) is a select of APIs and tools for developers to build Alexa skills. Interested developers can now apply for access to develop skills for the Mexican service. You can read the full announcement here.
We’re excited to announce that developers can start building voice experiences for customers in Mexico using the Alexa Skills Kit. Skills that developers create now and are certified for publication will be available for customers when Alexa launches in Mexico later this year. Commercial hardware manufacturers who want to develop Alexa-enabled products for Mexican customers can request early access to the invite-only Alexa Voice Service developer preview. Along with the Echo family of devices, Sonos and Bose will bring Alexa-enabled products to Mexico.
– Amazon Alexa Developers
This is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, it opens up a Spanish speaking geography that is seeing significant growth and development. And obviously, Amazon Mexico is closely associated with Amazon in the USA and Alexa will be opening more cross-border trade opportunities. It also shows that Amazon continues to look south as it develops its services.
This development means Alexa will now be localised for 11 global markets, and six languages. Now Alexa is available in English (USA, UK, India, Canada, and Australia), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), and Spanish (Spain and Mexico).
Looking at other virtual assistants, Google Assistant will apparently support at least 30 languages by the end of 2018 and Siri claims fluency in dozens of languages and dialects. So, on some levels. Amazon is playing catch-up. Although it is reported that one quarter of US households currently has an Alexa device.
