Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that it had acquired Blink late last year for $90 million.
The e-commerce retailer acquired the maker of home security cameras with the hopes of cashing in on the chips of Blink devices, which are efficient energy-wise. Such a chip could help Amazon become a strong camera manufacturer by lowering production costs and improve the battery life of some of its current products.
Items like the retailer’s Cloud Cam and its Echo speakers family could be among the items to receive an upgrade in the way they’re built. Amazon is hoping to improve its relationship with shoppers over the years through its in-house devices.
The Cloud Cam and Echo can only be used for so long before they need to be plugged into a power source, while Blink cameras can last two years on one pair of AA lithium batteries. Not much is known about the deal as Blink announced it in a Dec. 21 blog post without revealing much more than the price tag.
In addition to selling cameras, Blink was started by Immedia Semiconductor from Massachusetts, knowledgable people from the chip industry who had designed chips in the early 2000s in order to roll out improved video capabilities.
AMZN stock gained 2.9% on Monday.
