Electrolux, the 100-year-old Swedish maker of home appliances, is pouring investment into connected ovens and refrigerators that can be controlled with one's voice or an app. Instead of one turning knobs and pressing buttons, the appliances can be controlled by a voice assistant such as Amazon's Alexa or Google's Home to turn on and off and adjust temperatures. The technology is still in its infancy and pales in comparison with similar advances made, for example, in the car industry, where self-driving cars are close to becoming a reality. But the head of strategy and innovation at Electrolux, David Cronstrom, thinks the market for voice-controlled and connected devices will grow exponentially in the coming years. By 2025 he expects "a very large share" of the company's sales to come from these types of appliances. Last year, the company spent part of its 300-million-krona (R466m) increase in research and development investments on this segment. "I think in a few years from now, peo...
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