NOW YOU’RE TALKING
Apple launches HomePod voice-controlled speakers,
SAN FRANCISCO— Apple Inc. entered the growing field of voice-controlled speakers for the home on Monday, taking on early leaders Amazon.com Inc. and Google.
Apple’s speaker, called HomePod, emphasizes the enjoyment of music and looks like a wide can with curved edges. Unlike Amazon’s new Echo Show, Apple’s device does not have a screen. It will allow users to talk to Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, while at home and costs $349 (U.S.) — almost double the price of most competing products.
HomePod is Apple’s first major new hardware product since the Apple Watch’s release in 2015, and it comes at an important time for the company. The Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant is seeking new revenue streams after becoming heavily reliant on the success of the iPhone.
The market for Internet-connected speakers and other smart home technology may be big enough to help Apple diversify. Shipments of intelligent home speakers surged nearly 600 per cent year-over-year to 4.2 million units in the fourth quarter, with Amazon taking about 88-per-cent share and Google 10 per cent, according to consultant Strategy Analytics.
Spending on smart home-related hardware, services and installation fees will reach $155 billion by 2022, up from almost $90 billion this year, with devices accounting for about half of that, the consulting firm also estimates.
Chief executive officer Tim Cook has stressed the importance of Apple’s services business, predicting it will double in size by 2021. The new speaker establishes a bulwark inside the home to lock customers more tightly into these services. It also combats the competitive threat from Google’s and Amazon’s connected speakers: Those don’t support Apple
HomePod is Apple’s first major new hardware product since 2015, and it comes as the company is seeking new revenue streams after becoming heavily reliant on the success of the iPhone
services like Apple Music, which brings in $10 in revenue per user each month. Without an Apple speaker, consumers seeking smart home devices may opt both for competing hardware and services like Amazon Prime and Google Play Music.
The product was introduced on stage by Apple’s senior vice-president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, who said the speaker works closely with the company’s Music app and will ship in December in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. The Siri digital assistant has been updated to understand more spoken requests focused on music, he added.
The device has already entered production, Bloomberg reported last month.
It has been tested by some Apple employees in their homes for upward of a year, according to people familiar with the matter.
During this week’s conference, Apple also nodded to several up-andcoming technology trends, unveiling new device features touching on virtual reality, online privacy and a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning.
New iMacs unveiled Monday at Apple’s annual conference for software programmers are getting better dis- plays and graphics capabilities. Apple said that makes the Mac a great platform for development virtual-reality experiences.
But Apple is late to the game on VR. Samsung and Google already have VR systems centred on their smartphones. Facebook, HTC and Sony have high-end VR systems, too.
Virtual reality has been described as the next big thing for decades. But so far, interest has been strongest among gamers, developers and hardware makers rather than everyday users.
Apple’s entry into the market could change this. Its entry into digitalmusic sales with iTunes, or the smartphone market with the iPhone, upended those industries and gave them mass appeal.