According to a research report by Canalys, the worldwide smart speaker market grew 187% in second quarter of 2018. With this boom, several major players have been launching innovative products to outdo the competition. Now, as per a report, Google is going to update their current range of products – Home, Home Mini, and Home Max – effectively looking to give the Amazon Echo Show a run for its money.
Google is now believed to be working on a new Assistant-powered smart speaker that will include a display, and is apparently looking to launch it before the holidays this year, a Nikkei Asian Review report says. Google, in fact, plans to ship at least 3 million units in its first batch.
“Google targets to ship some 3 million units for the first batch of the new model of smart speaker that comes with a screen. It’s an aggressive plan,” Nikkei Asian Review reported, citing an industry source.
According to the report, Google had earlier introduced its new ‘Smart Display’ platform to partners such as Lenovo Group, JBL, LG Electronics and Sony, enabling them to build Echo Show-like devices. However, Google is yet to launch its own smart speaker with a screen, but it looks to change that this year. The new speaker would directly compete against the display-equipped Echo Show.
Google is currently the market leader in the smart speaker market having grown at a phenomenal rate, and it would seem that with the new products, it is attempting to retain that position. The upcoming speaker will reportedly work on voice commands, but touch-based functions will also be presumably included. Users should also be able to play YouTube videos, check their calendars and view maps on this device.
Though competition has intensified, demand is simultaneously growing. The number of installed smart speakers is expected to exceed 100 million in 2018, nearly 2.5 times more than the figure at the end of last year, the Canalys research report suggests.
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