The two companies’ willingness to lose money on the hardware reveals their very different strategy to Apple with its upcoming HomePod speaker …
Apple aims to make a profit on the device itself and bolster sales of its $9.99 per month Apple Music subscription, analysts said. Apple’s voice assistant Siri likely will focus on recommending new songs.
Analysts cited by Reuters agree.
“Apple is in a bit of trouble,” said Adam Wright, senior research analyst at IDC, who estimated that about 35 million smart speakers had been installed worldwide as of a couple of weeks ago – not including U.S. Christmas sales. “We’ve witnessed an explosion in the last six months.”
Personally, I’m sufficiently deeply embedded into the Apple ecosystem that I haven’t bought any competing IAs. I’m also currently satisfied with my Apple Watch as a means of controlling things around the home, and see no great benefit in sticking Siri inside a speaker – but know enough to acknowledge that my view may change once I’ve experienced the HomePod. What are your views?
Image: Time
