Kohler Co, an American sanitaryware and kitchenware producer, plans to introduce smart bathroom mirrors and kitchen faucets next year to boost its sales growth in Thailand to at least 10%.
Larry Yuen, Kohler's group president for kitchen and bath, said Thailand will be one of the first three countries in Asia to see the new smart home products.
"Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand are early adopters of the new products with voice control. They will be launched in Singapore first as it uses the English language," he said. "We will discuss with a software developer putting Thai language in our new voice-control products."
The new products will comprise Verdera, a smart bathroom mirror equipped with Alexa, the cloud-based voice service from Amazon, to support hands-free use. The user can adjust lights, play music, hear news or check the weather by using voice commands.
"The bathroom is a private place where people usually spend lots of time. They use their hands to do most of the activities in a bathroom," said Mr Yuen. "Smart mirrors will allow them a hands-free bathroom routine."
Another new product is a voice-control faucet for the kitchen that allows the user to turn the water on and off and dispense a precise amount of water.
Both were launched this year in the US and China and proved popular.
Kohler also introduced a voice-control toilet, but it was unpopular and will not be introduced in Thailand.
The company aims for the new products to help drive sales growth to at least 10% in Thailand in 2019. This year it expects sales growth will be below 10% thanks to soft demand.
In 2018, Kohler targets recording US$7 billion in revenue globally, with growth in the double digits. The US, China and India will be top performers.
"We are slightly concerned about the US-China trade war as it will have an impact on the costs of materials, however, higher costs will be passed on to the consumer," he said.
In Southeast Asia, top sales growth will come from Vietnam at 30-40%, followed by the Philippines and Indonesia, all three emerging markets.
"A rising middle class, young populations and property growth in those countries have boosted sales growth," said Mr Yuen.
"Thailand came in fourth for sales growth and Singapore fifth, as they are mature markets."
He said the company will talk with Thai developers to introduce products for co-kitchen spaces, which is a new trend in many large cities such as New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing, driven by rising land costs.
"Co-kitchen areas should have storage, good lighting, an integration of preparation, cooking and washing, ergonomic design for people of every size, and a space to promote socialising," said Mr Yuen.