ILoup Ventures’ Gene Munster broke down the rivalry between the smart speakers of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL), named Echo and Google Home, respectively.
Based on a test, in which 800 different everyday queries were posed to Amazon Echo and Google Home, Loup Ventures found Google’s fared better, answering 39.1 percent of the queries correctly compared to Echo’s 34.4 percent. Meanwhile Echo understood 94.4 percent of the queries compared to 77 percent for Google Home, the firm noted.
Test Results Along Lines of Core Strength
Analyzing the results, Munster noted Amazon fared better on queries related to commerce, while Google did well on information. The queries asked were divided into five categories, namely local, commerce, navigation, information and command.
With Amazon Prime members now being able to order products via voice control, Munster believes Alexa, Amazon’s voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service, can only help re-order simple, consumable products. He also pointed to reports of Amazon working on introducing an Echo model with a touchscreen sometime in 2017. Meanwhile, the analyst noted Google Home’s role in commerce was restricted to giving store recommendations and price quotes.
Loup Ventures believes Google Home’s advantage is in information, though it fared better than Echo in navigation and command categories as well. This, according to the firm, is facilitated by Google Assistant’s ability to engage in two-way conversations. This contrasts with Alexa, which needs to be asked complete individual queries each time and can’t engage in two-way dialogue.
Related Link: Ask Siri: How Will You Keep Up Amazon’s Alexa?
Strengths Vs. Weakness of Home Assistants
Strength: Loup Ventures outlined Home audio control as the strength of Home Assistants, with Echo and Google Home being able to connect with Spotify, Pandora Media Inc (NYSE: P) and TuneIn.
Additionally, Echo has access to Amazon Music and iHeartRadio and Google Assistant has access to Google Play Music and YouTube Music, the firm added. However, the firm noted that Echo is constrained by the necessity of Echo owners to be Amazon Prime Music or Spotify Premium subscribers to play specific songs.
Weakness : Noting that Navigation Support and Reminders are the weaknesses, Loup Ventures said these are minor issues that will be fixed in the future.
Next Logical Step
Munster sees a bright future for these platforms as companions to VR and AR. The analyst believes the next logical step is adding third-party developers to the mix. Amazon already offers third-party add-ons, which it calls as skills, the analyst noted. Unlike Amazon, the analyst noted that Google is not needing users to download or enable skills but it announced conversation actions platform. This platform allows developers to create back-and-forth conversations with users through Google Assistant.
Munster said he expects others, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), to push further into the space.
“Our homes have just begun to be connected and we expect home assistants to be one of the centerpieces of managing our lives in the future,” Munster said.
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