(Yicai) Nov. 1 -- Tuya, a Chinese provider of an Internet of Things platform, is widening its scope, sniffing opportunities in the uncrowded market of Southeast Asia and particularly Thailand six years after Xiaomi.

SE Asia has a population of over 650 million, and 34 percent of them are under 20-year-olds who are receptive to new things: they are becoming the main target group in the region’s smart home market, Ross Luo, general manager of Tuya Asia Pacific, told Yicai.

As more people start using smartphones and the internet infrastructure improves the smart home market is expected to further develop, Luo from the Hangzhou-based cloud platform operator added.

The New York-listed company is not the only one smelling opportunities in the region. China's Xiaomi Corp. cooperated with a Thai partner to enter the SE Asian country in 2017 and opened authorized stores in the nation to sell Xiaomi-branded phones and smart home products.

Tuya is joining hands with Thai real estate developers and telecoms equipment makers to bring its IoT products to Thailand. For example, T3 Technology is using Tuya’s platform to launch IoT products and services in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It opened its first brick-and-mortar store this year.

SCG, a Thai building materials manufacturer, is another partner of Tuya. The cement maker unveiled its smart home brand Mind last year with internet-connected lighting, security cameras, audio systems, and smartwatches. Some 20,000 to 30,000 households in Thailand are waiting to install such devices, and SCG plans to raise the number of clients to around 100,000 next year, Apirut Vanchaam, chief digital officer of SCG, said to Yicai.

The local smart home device market has great growth potential since most consumers in Thailand have not experienced the benefits of such devices, Vanchaam added.

Smart devices are much more expensive than normal devices so that is most likely why consumers have so far been slow to buy them, Luo from Tuya said. But Thai consumers are used to spending money instead of saving up, which should help in expanding the market quicker, the GM added.

As digital transformation is taking over, smart home products are gradually replacing traditional products in SE Asia, according to a recent report by market research firm Statista. Last year, the demand for small household appliances in SE Asia was nearly 250 million items, and Indonesia made up the largest part of that.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine