Since the start of the first year of smart hardware in 2014, the industry has been in a state of blowout. Especially in recent years, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology and big data, large global technology companies have also begun to join them, leading to the continuous expansion of the areas covered by smart hardware products, such as smart speakers, which are currently the most fierce competition base.
The beginning of smart speakers came from the advent of Amazon Echo in 2014. Its emergence made technology companies all over the world go crazy for smart speakers.
Countless companies from all over the world have flocked, including Amazon Echo, Google home, Apple Homepod, and Microsoft Invoke abroad, and domestic Alibaba Tmall Elf, Dingdong speakers launched by JD.com and iFlytek, Xiaomi’s Little Love Elf, Baidu’s raven H, etc. .
It can be said that 2017 is the first year of China's smart speakers, and it is also the year that China's smart speakers began to appear in large numbers, and the development speed is extremely fast. Domestic Internet giants have launched their own smart speaker chips, such as Jingdong’s “Dingdong Topâ€, Ali’s smart speaker product “Elfâ€, Xiaomi’s “Xiaoai Classmate†and Baidu’s “raven Hâ€, although Tencent has not yet launched Earlier, the smart speaker product "Ear", but it has launched two voice assistants Tencent Dingdong and Tencent Cloud Xiaowei.
In addition, coupled with the smart speaker products launched by many smart technology startups on the market, it can be said that the entire smart speaker market has unprecedented competition.
Giants are pouring in, rookies are coming out frequently, and the field of smart speakers shows a pattern of competition for hegemony. Hundreds of "boxes" contend, and the gunpowder is full of smoke. Who will be the final winner?
Strategic position, the rise of smart speakers
There is no wind and no waves. The concept of artificial intelligence is hot this year. With this ride, smart speakers come into people's field of vision very naturally.
For artificial intelligence, smart speakers are a product of artificial intelligence voice technology. And why does artificial intelligence technology choose smart speakers instead of other products?
The reason is also very simple. The most direct manifestation of the development of artificial intelligence AI is human-computer interaction, while intelligent voice technology is currently the most sophisticated embodiment in the evolution of human-computer interaction. Voice is the most primitive and natural way of communication for humans. Choose speakers. It can perfectly fit the intelligent voice technology.
The rise of China's smart speakers has benefited from the development of artificial intelligence voice technology this year. However, compared with foreign countries, the start is relatively late. In 2015, foreign countries have begun to promote smart speaker products on a large scale, and this year has entered the popularization stage.
Take the US market as an example. At present, technology giants such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple have their own smart speaker products. Among them, Amazon occupies a leading position due to its first-mover advantage.
Why do the seemingly simple and compact smart speakers attract the world's Internet giants one after another, and what are the reasons behind the scenes? And all of this stems from the strategic position brought by smart speakers. Its real charm lies in its ability to act as the key to artificial intelligence landing practice, the key to smart homes, and the control center of the Internet of Things.
Simply put, smart speakers are regarded as the control center of smart homes in the strategies of most manufacturers. Speaker + intelligent voice interaction system + content + Internet service, forming a complete set of closed loop services.
Therefore, the smart speaker is not a simple smart hardware product. Its core is the service function it carries. Different companies have different themes of their preference due to their different positioning and different fields.
But the purpose is the same. They all hope to cultivate the user's habit of using smart speakers and increase the consumption stickiness of the company's smart speakers, so as to use smart speakers as the "flow portal" to promote more services/content to the majority of users. And then seek a strategic advantage in the future intelligent society.
Therefore, whether Baidu, Ali, etc. are making smart speakers according to their own corporate genes, for example, Baidu focuses on technology output, while Ali is doing ecology. In the future, Tencent’s launch of its own smart speaker products is likely to focus on open platforms.
The smart speaker market is contending for hegemony
It can be seen that the entering companies have a clear understanding of the strategic significance of smart speakers. Although the current business model of smart speaker products is not clear, it does not prevent rushing companies from joining the battlefield.
According to relevant research report data, with the further development of intelligent voice human-computer interaction technology, the market demand for smart speakers will expand rapidly in the future; it is estimated that by 2022, global smart speaker shipments will reach 68 million units, with an average annual market growth. The rate exceeds 30%.
It is worth mentioning that Samsung, which is slightly behind, is about to join the battlefield. According to people familiar with the matter, Samsung is currently secretly developing a smart speaker, which is expected to be released in the first half of 2018.
The smart speakers that Samsung will launch will focus on sound quality and connectivity with other smart home devices, such as desk lamps and alarm clocks. At the same time, the speaker will also be pre-installed with Samsung Bixby, which is a voice assistant similar to Apple's Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant developed by Samsung, and this speaker can also interact with Samsung's own smart TVs and Galaxy phones. .
In addition to Samsung, many domestic technology manufacturers have joined the smart speaker battle. Recently, Cheetah Mobile announced that it will launch its own-brand smart speakers next year. It is reported that Cheetah Mobile will make every effort to attack the artificial intelligence market in 2018. The focus of strategic development will also be extended from software programs to hardware products, and their respective smart hardware products will be launched one after another.
In addition, 360 companies caught in the water drop live broadcast storm have already been deployed in the field of smart hardware. Zhou Hongyi, chairman of 360 company, once said that artificial intelligence technology is undoubtedly the focus of the next round of technological revolution. 360’s layout of artificial intelligence is reflected in smart hardware. It has launched children’s smart watches, smart cameras and other products to try, smart speakers It is also their next goal.
to sum up
In general, the smart speaker market has become increasingly fierce with the addition of Internet giants and emerging technology companies. Frequent changes in the market structure also indicate the fierce competition in this emerging field. Many companies are self-evident in their determination to point out the future of smart life.
In the final analysis, behind the hotness of smart speakers is the competition for the home interactive traffic entrance. However, at present, the smart speaker market is still in a barbaric growth stage. Although a large number of players enter the market, there is still a lack of finalized products. The market opportunities are still broad, so you can look forward to it.
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