“Apple beat its rivals to market with the Siri digital assistant, artificial intelligence software that lets machines act more like humans,” Shara Tibken writes for CNET. “But Amazon and Google have surpassed Siri with their own assistants, thanks to the proliferation of smart speakers in the home.”
“Amazon, with its Echo smart speakers and Alexa voice assistant, now all but owns the home,” Tibken writes. “Since launching the Echo in late 2014, Amazon has sold 20 million smart speakers in the US, taking 73 percent of that market, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.”
“Already late in playing catch-up, Apple in November delayed the HomePod, leaving the field that much longer in the hands of the Echo, the Google Home and smart speakers from companies including Sonos. Even when the HomePod eventually launches in 2018, Siri will be only a minor part of the device,” Tibken writes. “Though the smart home is still in its early stages, Apple could be missing out on a big opportunity if it takes too much longer to get things right. And it’s got to find a way to make Siri not only smart enough to play the music you want but also trustworthy enough to lock your front doors… Apple needs to make sure Siri gets smarter and more useful — and do it fast.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, it’s still a nascent market. Even after three years of Echo sales, 20 million units is nothing. So, even after missing this Christmas, Apple still has time.
SEE ALSO:
Echo Dot was Amazon’s Black Friday – Cyber Monday bestseller as Apple’s delayed HomePod waits for 2018 release date – November 28, 2017
Apple’s late, delayed, limited HomePod is looking more and more like something I don’t want – November 27, 2017
Why Apple’s HomePod is three years behind Amazon’s Echo – November 21, 2017
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook: The ‘operations genius’ who never has enough products to sell at launch – October 23, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017
I noticed going through Lowes the other day that there were no Homekit accessories this year. There are lots of Echo compatible and Google Home compatible devices, but none that are Homekit compatible. For the last couple of years, I have noticed plugs, timers, etc. that all prominently displayed their Homekit compatibility. Not anymore. That’s unfortunate as Homekit is a more secure system. But a more secure system isn’t really even a system if no one uses it.
These products are not safe
I hope some hacker doesn’t turn on my kitchen light. That would be TRAGIC…
“Apple could be missing out on X if they take too much longer to Y” is a headline I’ve been reading about Apple for more than a decade. All that matters is if the product is good or not. Apple got into mobile phones very, very, very late. How’d that work out?
Apple doesn’t care.
Apple isn’t “hungry” anymore. They are sitting on the largest pile of cash, all of their VPs are multi millionaires.
They are going to feed off of this gravy chain and do just enough to keep us all pacified.
√ An excellent point. I’ve thought of Apple’s cash cache as insurance against another 1996 Marketing-As-Management hell event. But clearly, prolonged security can emit the foul stench of laziness. Yet another verification of what I call the ‘Angst Theory’ of creativity.
I thought Apple was an exception to this theory. But the travesty the company has made of the Macintosh blatantly wreaks of moribundity. PU.
♨💩♨
I’m now picturing them with their head tilted up and link-chains of solidified gravy pouring down into their open mouths. Weird. 🙂
I’ll gladly pull out The Apple Prod®™ to jolt Apple into getting their version of IoT right.
But let’s admit it: IoT is shite on toast and could not have a more abysmal reputation at this point in history. It’s almost entirely excrement, shat out in a hurry for quick bucks while its excreting companies take zero responsibility for anything remotely resembling ‘security’.
IOW: Apple is just another swimmer in the vast cesspool that is IoT. If Apple crawls out again and get things right, they’ll be GOLDEN. That’s all they have to do.
Get crawling Apple!
Apple elites are merely concerned how many more years they can milk the cow. Once Apple’s upper management has sucked their necessary hundreds of millions of dollars from Apple they shall retire in luxury leaving the cow in the barn, alone, uncared for, forgotten. Dust will settle, cobwebs gently moving, with nary a sound but the drip, drip, drip of water from a leaky pipe echoing in empty halls.
Apple missed this boat. Even if it does come to market, Apple will abandon the hobby soon after. They should be working with others to integrate their systems with siri.
I got tired of waiting and installed an entire wink system, much cheaper then Apple’s offer will be.
Apple is leaderless, directionless, disunited. It is evident from the shoddy products Apple is releasing and products not yet available for release. It is so sad how far Apple has declined under Tim Cook.
Google Home Max speaker is shipping now, and the website/video for it confirms that Google’s SmartSound is just equalization, it isn’t nearly as advanced as what HomePod does as far as tuning the sound to the space it is in. It can’t be as advanced, since the Google Home Max speaker isn’t a 360 degree array. But it’s probably good enough if you’re in the Google ecosystem. However, there’s little doubt that HomePod is going to have much better sound.
Can’t be that hard. How long has Apple been working and announcing this? Hopeless.