Amazon’s smart speaker Echo, along with its personal assistant Alexa, totally dominated this years’ Consumer Electronic Show. The device was the star in the smart home field while that market keeps rising every month.
When comparing several markets, it’s obvious that the smart home market has not reached the smartphone expansion, for example. However, month after month, there has been a reported growth in the smart home field, and it’s being exploited by one particular device: Amazon’s Echo.
Amazon’s Echo was the star in the smart home field. Photo credit: The Verge
People are giving Echo the trust in the automation of their homes, as Alexa helps them in the most common and daily tasks. According to a recent survey, more than half of Echo users engage with Alexa primarily for listening to a song, to the news, to set a timer or just to check the time.
And not only people are trusting Echo and Alexa more and more every day. Prominent companies are also in the package. Ford, Huawei, LG, and others have presented distinct devices, home appliances, cars, fridges, etc., that use Alexa’s technology.
Some experts say that the primary factor that helps the success that Alexa has had has to do with Amazon not overselling the product. For years, Apple users were disappointed with Siri’s performance. In this case, as Alexa started as a humble assistant, it always managed to satisfy users needs without Amazon offering things the device cannot do.
Now, Alexa has grown and keeps presenting itself to the world with more and more upgrades. This last month, Alexa incorporated a function that allows the connection with Uber, Twitter, and Bloomberg News. This intelligent assistant was the first one able to control door locks, lights, and thermostats.
New competitor for Google Home assistant
One of the principal goals for Amazon’s Echo and Alexa is to promote their online retail business. The logic says that as more people have the smart Amazon speaker, more people would be able to acquire books, groceries, music, and movies.
On the other hand, the Google Home device cannot offer the same function, as Google serves as a fantastic search engine, but is not a retail company. Most revenues Google has in its search platform come from advertising, and obviously, the company cannot put ads in the Google Home performance.
Not only can’t Google introduce ads in the smart speaker daily functions but as the home automation expands, people would be less time actually staring at screens, a platform that is vital for Google when it comes to promoting their search ads.
It is clear that voice technology is a young market when comparing to the smartphone field. However, Google has to manage to overcome a competition that Amazon appears to be winning, especially when Echo becomes the star of the Consumer Electronics Show and it partners up with companies like LG, Huawei, and Ford.
Source: Business Insider
