• Alexa’s Portuguese version will be available for Brazilians next week, coinciding with the launch of the first Echo speakers in the country
• The biggest challenge concerns overcoming cultural aspects and turning Alexa into a popular gadget
• Other brands might also release complementary products that are compatible with Alexa, such as TV’s, speakers, headsets, lamps, locks, and even a vacuum cleaner robot

If until last year Amazon had a timid presence in the Brazilian retail market, in 2019 Jeff Bezos’ company looks determined to change the game for good. After launching Amazon Prime in the country last month, causing the three main retailers of the country suffer combined losses of BRL 4.75 billion the day after its release, the brand has now made a new move: Alexa, the voice assistant of the brand, now will speak Portuguese and be available in Brazil, alongside Echo, Amazon’s speakers line. 

Whereas in the US market Alexa is already a huge success and has also become a powerful sales weapon to Amazon’s whole portfolio by transforming in a popular behavior to make purchases on Amazon by using only commands, its presence in Brazil plays out a very different scenario.  

That’s because the country has cultural aspects that need to be truly understood in order to create a great experience for Brazilians. Other voice assistants, such as Apple‘s Siri, have already tried to gain a market share, yet the difficulties that these products suffer–especially in regards to the local language, Portuguese– have made them unpopular in Brazil. Alexa now has the challenge of transforming these hardships and start a new era that shows Brazilians all the benefits of a connected household. 

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According to Ricardo Garrido, Alexa’s general manager in Brazil, in an interview for Estado, “for now, we don’t have sales expectations [for Alexa], we want to know first what the Brazilian is going to think about the idea.” 

Starting next week, Amazon might launch three new products: the Dot, a small speaker; the Echo Show 5, a speaker with a screen; and, last but not least, the Echo, which is the main product of the speaker’s line and should also arrive in the country by November. With Alexa’s release, not only will Amazon increase its portfolio for Brazilian consumers, but also other brands such as LG, Bose, Positive, and Yale should also launch compatible products in the country, according to the media outlet Estado.