Indians make Alexa sing a lot, especially ‘Happy birthday to you’

Within a year of Amazon Alexa being introduced to Indians, our countrymen have discovered the machine’s hidden talent -- singing. Given the penchant we have for music it would probably come as no surprise if we said that the abundance of music apps such as Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, etc, could not hold back the urge to hear dear Alexa hum a tune or two. To be more precise, fifteen hours daily, on an average, across various devices.

According to Amazon India, Echo users in India love to hear Alexa sing and make her sing ‘Happy birthday to you’ in its own voice for at least an hour every day.

Speaking to the Businessinsider.com, Dilip RS, the country manager of Alexa Skills, Amazon, said the virtual assistant spends 15 hours a day singing songs because it is natural for a customer to interact with technology through voice.”

Amazon has not given the exact number of Indian users of Alexa-enabled devices, but claim that if all the devices sold were mounted atop each other, it would be four times taller than Mount Everest.

It is difficult to give out the exact number because the virtual assistant is available through various devices apart from Amazon Echo, such as the FireTV stick and Bose speakers.

Notably, penetration and use of smart speakers in India stands at nearly 21 percent, which is better than the other countries, according to a market report. An Accenture report states one of the primary reasons behind this is that Indian customers are largely satisfied with the products; India has a 97 percent satisfaction rate.