Alibaba challenges Google and Amazon with new device

HONG KONG: The competition in digital speaker-assistants is getting more intense, as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd unfurled an Amazon Echo-like device and fellow Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Baidu prepare to develop their own.

Alibaba’s “Tmall Genie X1” will go for 499 yuan (US$73) to the first 1,000 people during a one-month trial, coming in below Apple’s US$349 HomePod and the roughly US$180 Echo. Its biggest competitor, Tencent Holdings Ltd, is developing a voice-activated digital speaker that could hit the market within months, Tencent president Martin Lau said in a May interview. And yesterday, Baidu Inc showed off its own “DuerOS” personal assistant. Taking a page from Amazon.com Inc and Google, Hangzhou-based Alibaba’s speaker offers voice-controlled services from music streaming to newscasts and calendar-booking, according to its website.

Importantly, the gadget – powered by the AliGenie system – may eventually simplify shopping for the Chinese e-commerce giant’s 450 million active buyers who turn to the website for everything from cherries to make-up.

It will begin formal sales from August 8 only for China and won’t come with a display.

Digital speakers powered by virtual assistants are one of the hottest consumer product categories right now. Apple Inc recently debuted its Siri-controlled HomePod, Google launched its Home speaker last fall and Amazon, the pioneer, has been churning out Alexa-powered devices for years.

Shipments of intelligent home speakers surged nearly 600% to 4.2 million units in the fourth quarter, with Amazon taking about an 88% share and Google 10%, according to Strategy Analytics.

Spending on smart-home related hardware, services and installation fees will reach US $155bil by 2022, up from almost US $90bil this year with devices accounting for about half of that, the consulting firm estimates.