By Layan Damanhouri
Homes today are occupied by the “connected” family who are constantly logging in their smart devices, gaming, streaming videos, and communicating all at the same time. According to Linksys’ research, Saudi families spend about SR 10,000 to 12,000 on internet per year.
The number of devices will grow significantly in the coming years, according to Belkin’s founder and CEO Chet Pipkin.
From starting the company in his parents’ garage in 1983, today the billion-dollar company manufactures consumer electronics globally. Linksys owned by Belkin launched the Velop, a Wi-Fi modular mesh system, promising to deliver seamless and exceedingly fast internet to homes with up to three Wi-Fi radios to avoid range extenders many people use.
The Velop will be available in stores this coming week in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Gazette’s exclusive interview with Chet Pipkin:
SG: What is your strategy to make this product a must-have in the future?
CP: In the next years, we predict that the number of devices at home would increase. The demands we would be putting on what we wanted to do over our wireless networks would be more from wireless videos, audio, gaming, to our communications. There’s way too much demand for the Wi-Fi signal that exists in that day. So we needed to rethink how to have one signal with one network name. Otherwise, people with 4K TVs are not going to have a good experience without good Wi-Fi.
If we could educate people on this huge transformative leap on Wi-Fi and what it’ll do for people, it’ll be gratifying to us to watch people have a good connection. This is what I’ve been dreaming of.
SG: How does this product fulfill your goals in Belkin?
CP: Everything for me in life is about people. Ever since I was young, I’ve been trying to think about ways to do things that can benefit people. For example, my first job was working as a day camp counselor. In business today, I think about how to really help people. This product is a good example of that. It’s good for business but also for the soul and heart too.
SG: What are the major trends in smart home technology?
CP: We are always connected with smartphones, things in our homes, our cars. Machines can do what people can’t because we can’t process things as fast. Having everything connected and talking to one another through the smart home allows these experiences to happen in total. Natural language is going to grow a lot with voice recognition. This technology will help me live the experience I want.
SG: What do you say to people who say why do we need this?
CP: In many ways, I agree with them. I prefer a simpler life. Many times I’m the happiest when I’m not connected and taking a hike on top of the mountain. So there’s a lot of times in my life that matter a lot when I don’t need it. But other times I do. I can now check in on my home, even though I’m thousands of miles away. It makes my life simpler during my workday so that I have more time to enjoy the simple things in life when I’m completely disconnected from things. It creates the time and peace of mind so that I can have these other moments that are more important to me.
SG: What are the opportunities for this product in the Saudi market?
We love the markets here. It’s forward-thinking with a lot of vision. People are rapid adopters of technology in many ways. The Saudis are doing a fantastic job in rapidly adopting high-speed connections.
