Amazon ups the volume on rivals with Echo price cut
Amazon will head into the holiday shopping season with a simple wish list: It wants voicecontrolled devices featuring its digital assistant Alexa to become as ubiquitous in people’s homes as televisions.
The online retailer is slashing prices to undercut Google, introducing better acoustics in response to a forthcoming Apple speaker and rolling out new formats to appeal to different tastes and needs.
“We want to make sure we are building a product that everyone can use,” said David Limp, Amazon’s senior vice-president of devices and services, during a Wednesday event showcasing the company’s holiday product line-up at its Seattle headquarters.
Amazon so far has proven far better at discounting a potpourri of goods online than it has been at making its own devices. Most notably, it tanked in its attempt to make a smartphone, putting it at a disadvantage against Google and Apple — the makers of Android and the iPhone, respectively — in the battle to stay connected with consumers when they’re on the go.
But Amazon has found a way to play a bigger role in people’s homes with the Echo, an internet-connected speaker starring Alexa as a concierge who can do everything from order a pizza to turn out the lights on command.
Amazon won’t say how many Echos it has sold since the device’s 2014 debut. Limp would only say “tens of millions” of devices currently include Alexa and that Amazon now employs more than 5,000 people trying to make the assistant even smarter.
The Echo’s popularity prodded Google to introduce its own internet-connected speaker, Home, with a digital assistant last year. Apple is scheduled to roll out its own speaker, the HomePod, in December.
Google has been positioning its speaker as a less expensive alternative with a smarter assistant. Amazon now aims to erase the price advantage with the next generation of the Echo. The new version will sell for US$100, a 44 per cent reduction from the US$180 price for the current version.
Google’s Home speaker currently sells for US$130, but that price could be lowered next week when the company is expected to unveil its own holiday line-up in San Francisco.
Amazon is also adding higher fidelity equipment to the nextgeneration Echo in an apparent response to the HomePod. Apple is promoting its speaker mainly as a superior music sound system, although it will also feature its digital assistant, Siri. The HomePod, though, will cost almost US$350.
Amazon also is offering the Echo Plus, a slightly taller speaker with enhanced features at US$150.
Amazon is now taking pre-orders and said both devices will be ready before Christmas.