Amazon vs Google – Jack of all trades.

Amazon is winning through ubiquity.

• Amazon certainly gets the prize for launching the most products at the same time, but with many of them clearly being wild shots in the dark, it remains to be seen how much traction they actually get.
• The ones who should be concerned here are the likes of Bose, Google, Sonos, Ouraring etc. whose products and customers, Amazon is targeting with incredibly low prices.
• In addition to Eero routers, Ring security products and a soundbar, Amazon launched 8 new Echo products and even a smart oven.

Echo Frames

• The Echo frames are clearly a shot at Bose Frames but are different in that they do not focus on music but on having a digital assistant close at hand at any point in time.
• This is ideal for glasses wearers who are too lazy to extract their smartphone to tap a request into Google and at $179 will pressure Luxottica to offer more than overpriced plastic and wire to its customers.
• This may drive traffic from Google Assistant on the smartphone to the still inferior Alexa for no other reason than pure convenience.

Echo Loop

• This is certainly the wildest of Amazon’s experiments and aims to put Alexa enquiries literary at one’s fingertips.
• The device has tiny microphones that are activated with a small button with the answers being audible by lifting the device to one’s head.
• At $129 and with a questionable use case, I see this as one experiment that is not going to work.
• Ouraing will not be losing any sleep over this.

Echo buds

• A me-too product as most players now have their own buds but at $129 and Alexa built-in, this will appeal to the price sensitive.

Echo Studio

• This takes a shot at the Google Home Max, Apple Home Pod and Sonos but at a very attractive price of $199.
• Echo studio has the similar room adjustment properties at the Apple Home Pod, but the proof will be in the testing to ascertain just how good the sound quality really is and whether compromises have been made to hit the low price point.

Echo

• The conical speaker version has been updated with a new fabric design and slightly better speakers.
• Interestingly, Zigby support has been removed implying that Amazon now feels that Alexa’s dominance is getting to a point where its own version can become a standard by sheer weight of numbers.
• Price remains at $99.

Echo Dot

• The biggest selling item has been updated with a simple digital display on the side so it can double as a bedside clock.
• This has been the big volume seller and is likely to remain so with a price tag of $59 and its added features.

Echo Show 8

• A smaller version of the Echo Show at $129 which looks like another attempt to try and push this category more widely.
• It has not fared very well to date and I am not convinced that this smaller version will propel it into the mainstream.

Echo Flex

• This is a wall socket powered version of Alexa that has been designed with the intent of bringing Alexa into every room of the house.
• This product is clearly focused on smart home control rather than anything else.
• Its appeal is enhanced with a USB socket on the bottom which can be used as a charge or peripherals like a night light or motion sensor can be added.
• This is an excellent innovation and should be opened for 3^rd parties to develop to.
• At $26, this is a cost-effective way to enhance the smart home as long as one does not care about every last detail of one’s home life potentially being transmitted to Amazon.

Echo Glow

• A gimmick LED light that changes colours with a tap and can co-ordinate with music being players through another Echo device.
• It is cheap at $29 but the novelty will soon wear off-putting this squarely in the experimental category.

Amazon Smart Oven

• This is a $249 do it all Microwave, convection cooking, air fryer and food warmer that is very attractively priced.
• Unfortunately, with kitchen hardware, a low price often means horrible compromises have been made in terms of performance, evenness of heat delivery as well as power.
• For the uber-lazy, this has a scan to cook feature where pre-packaged foods can be scanned with the oven then knowing exactly how the food should be cooked including interventions like stirring or removing plastic seals.
• This will horrify anyone who likes to cook but as the turnaround of UK supermarket, Morrison has demonstrated, not many consumers really cook anymore.
• Hence, this may find appeal as long as Amazon has not taken too many liberties with the hardware in order to reach a very attractive price point.

Take-Home Message

• This is a series of launches aimed at cementing and extending Amazon’s lead in the smart home.
• This is further bad news for Google which continues to languish when it comes to the smart home.
• It has a better product in terms of the digital assistant, but Alexa’s is becoming ubiquitous.
• This means that the fact that everything works with it and supports it, makes up for Alexa’s stupidity compared to Google Assistant.
• The more time that passes, the stronger Amazon’s grip will become creating a steeper and steeper hill for Google to climb.
• I have always said that this race was Google’s race to lose and so far, it is doing a very good job of doing exactly that.