In the first half of 2018, Samsung intends to launch a smart speaker, entering a competitive market for voice-controlled devices, which currently, in the segment, has the presence of large companies such as Amazon, Alphabet and Apple.
The people who reported the news requested anonymity, but revealed that the South Korean giant will focus on sound quality and the management of connected household appliances, in this case locks and light bulbs. The device will arrive with Samsung's digital assistant that rivals Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, namely Bixby.
In addition, the device can be synchronized with smartphones from the Galaxy line, with TVs and also with other Samsung devices. However, the manufacturer has not commented on the matter.
The device is estimated to hit the market with a suggested price of US$ 200, including several markets, including the United States. The Apple HomePod, which was also developed with audio quality in mind, should be available for purchase next year, but at a slightly higher price, around $349.
At first the loudspeakers do not generate much profit for the manufacturers, the biggest returns obtained by the voice assistants, occur through the services that can be accessed through them. In the case of Amazon, the company benefits when people shop at its online store through Alexa on Echo devices. In the case of Google speakers, the monetary gains occur through the expansion of the search engine to homes and help the company sell products, for example, its music services.
According to Gartner, by 2021, voice-activated speakers will become a $3,5 billion market. Without providing too many details, Samsung executive DJ Koh in August of this year had already revealed that the manufacturer was working on a smart speaker. Now, we can only wait to see if Samsung gives any clues about its speaker.
