Right after the launch of the Galaxy Note 8, there was confirmation of the upcoming launch of the Samsung smart speaker. Samsung’s mobile chief, DJ Koh, stated that they would soon announce the Bixby-powered smart speaker.
Koh said that he is “already working on it.” His intention is to “provide a fruitful user experience at home with Samsung devices.” He wants to move “quite heavily” in that regard.
This also confirms the news released by The Wall Street Journal in July. At the same time, it readily rejects the report of The Korea Herald about the ditching of the project.
On the other hand, the news of the Samsung smart speaker coming up fits with another happening. The Bixby assistant of Samsung is now available in over 200 countries. Therefore, the smart speaker will be rolled out to a wide range of users after its release. This will let Samsung gather user feedback and constantly develop the concerned service.
Competitions for Samsung Smart Speaker
While Samsung is on its toe to make its speaker the smartest in the industry, there will be competition. The likes of the Alexa-powered Echo of Amazon and the latest Google Home integration are the present major players. Similarly, the Cortana-based Invoke of Microsoft deserves mention. HomePod of Apple is also arriving in the coming December.
As far as the Asian markets are concerned, the Samsung smart speaker will face competition as well. The South Korean rivals such as Kakao, SK Telecom, Naver, and KT will be up against the smart speaker. Lastly, the newly released Xiaomi speaker at $45 may also give a good fight in terms of market attraction. Although the Xiaomi speaker is presently being tested among Chinese customers, it will soon be available across Asia.
Summing Up
Samsung may decide to make its speaker brand-agnostic in terms of connectivity with phones and other devices. Also, it might be made compatible with Samsung devices only. Right now, we don’t have anything concrete to go on with but will come up with updates as we receive them. Stay tuned to this space to follow anything and everything surrounding the smart speaker.
