Smart ID Group, a Bangkok-based IT accessory maker, has launched Southeast Asia's first smart power strip under the brand Anitech in a bid to capitalise on growing demand for wireless power strips.
Besides allowing users to control appliances via the Internet of Things (IoT), the power strip can also cater to enterprises' increased demand for managing electronic operations through wireless sensor systems.
The IoT power strip H1000 has four sockets, a touchscreen switch and four application features: a power switch function; an advanced power switch setting that lets users select the date and time; a countdown power switch mode; and a power consumption function displaying real-time power usage, as well as past records of up to three months.
Users can access and control these functions via Anitech's IoT app on both iOS and Android smartphones, as long as there is internet access.
The IoT power strip is entirely produced by Thais from hardware and software coding to design and data storage processing through a cloud-based server operated by a Thai enterprise, said chief executive Thomas Hongpakdee.
The smart power strip supports residences and businesses in their adoption of IoT platforms involving sensor systems, Mr Thomas said.
"IoT is one mega-trend of the global digital economy and international surveys claim there will be 50 billion IoT-connected devices globally, worth 200 billion baht, by 2020," he said. "Anitech aims to be the first mover in the IoT devices sector in the country, providing both reliability and security in terms of hardware and software."
Voice command via Google Home or Amazon's Alexa will be added by this year for the next step of application development, Mr Thomas said.
Smart ID targets to sell 5,000 units of the H1000 by year-end.
Revenue from IoT related devices sales is expected to generate 10% of the company's total revenue by 2022. The figure is expected to rise to 50% or half of IoT-related device sales by 2029.
At present, normal power strips account for 35% of total sales per year. The Anitech H1000 is its first IoT power strip.
In 2018, Smart ID Group booked total sales of 330 million baht, or 25% growth from 2017.
The company aims to develop the business-to-business application to show data in real time and add more sensor functions, while the data generated by the device will be used for data analytics and displayed in a dashboard format.