Samsung stirs competition in smart speaker market

July 31, 2017

Samsung stirs competition in smart speaker market

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Samsung is on the move to enter the smart speaker market with its development of a Bixby-powered AI speaker dubbed “Vega,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

While a launch date remains undetermined, executives anticipate the speaker will support a wide range of products, such as home appliances and automobile software. Samsung is just the latest in a string of tech giants, both in the US and China, working toward offering an AI-infused smart speaker device, closely following an announcement from Alibaba last week.

However, Samsung faces a steep uphill battle in the quickly heating up smart speaker market. When the Samsung speaker hits the market, it will face competition from Amazon and Google, and soon enough Microsoft and Apple, with their forthcoming respective releases of Invoke and HomePod.

This year, 35.6 million Americans will use a voice-activated assistant at least once a month, doubling last year’s figure, reports eMarketer. Moreover, Samsung is still struggling to develop an English-language version of Bixby, further slowing Samsung’s progress in the launch in the US, the largest smart speaker globally.

Advancements in a bevy of industries are helping intelligent digital voice assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa become more sophisticated and useful pieces of technology.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are allowing them to accurately understand more information, while upgrades to mobile networks are facilitating quick transfers of data to robust clouds, enabling fast response times. In addition, the swell of internet connected devices like smart thermostats and speakers is giving voice assistants more utility in a connected consumer's life.

However, there are still numerous barriers that need to be overcome before this product platform will see mass adoption, as both technological challenges and societal hurdles persist.

Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the voice assistant landscape that:

Identifies the major changes in technology and user behavior that have created the voice assistant market that exists today.
Presents the major players in today's market and discusses their major weaknesses and strengths.
Explores the impact this nascent market poses to other key digital industries.
Identifies the major hurdles that need to be overcome before intelligent voice assistants will see mass adoption.

To get the full report, subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. » Learn More Now

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