Assignment
Voice-controlled devices and utilities are growing more popular as smartphone and cloud technology become more robust. Amazon initially entered the fray with voice controls for its Amazon Fire TV technology. Amazon's Echo voice-controlled speaker and digital assistant (Alexa) raises the stakes even further. Echo was first released in 2015 to mixed but mostly positive reviews, which emphasized the future potential of the device. By 2017, the Amazon Echo had become the dominant voice-controlled device, with a 70% market share. In September 2017, Amazon introduced the Echo Plus, a version of the Echo that also has smart home functionality.
Echo is always on, and you can ask its digital assistant, Alexa, questions, have it play music, create a to-do list, or get the weather. Echo can also play a digest of the biggest news stories or play reports of specific issues that users ask to hear. The Alexa companion app allows you to customize settings, keep a record of your queries and the answers to those queries, and view the shopping and to-do list items that you've previously dictated to Echo. A developer's kit allows developers to create Alexa apps (called Alexa Skills), which are likely to make it even more multi-functional in the future.
Echo was a move by Amazon to enter the voice-controlled technology space, but the Echo Plus also operates as a "smart home" appliance, which is another growing market. The Echo Plus functions as a "hub" that enables you to manage and connect with all of the smart appliances in your home in one centralized location.
It's not clear how Amazon uses the information it gleans from users' questions and commands, or whether there's any capacity for storing things you say that aren't directed at Echo itself. From Amazon's perspective, the Echo is an invaluable new tool for learning more about its customers, with an ability to generate heaps of granular data about the routines and preferences of each user. On the other hand, privacy advocates have ample reason to be concerned about a device that can quickly transmit your every word to the cloud, where it can be stored along with the rest of Amazon's trove of your personal information and used to make product recommendations and generate marketing materials. However, Amazon notes that any users uncomfortable with the collection of their data can simply go into their "History" using their Alexa app, and delete queries either individually or in bulk, which will also delete the information from Amazon's servers.
Google introduced its entry into the smart speaker marketplace, which is named Google Home, in late 2016. Google Home uses an intelligent digital assistant that it calls Google Assistant (Google's version of Amazon Alexa) and provides similar functionality to Amazon Echo and Alexa, including the ability to play music, control home devices, and provide information in response to verbal requests.
Subsequent versions include the Google Home Mini, Google Home Max, and Google Home Hub. Although neither Amazon nor Google officially reports sales of the Echo or Google Home, analysts believe that Amazon still maintains a dominant position in the smart speaker device market, although Google Home is beginning to make inroads. Apple has also entered the fray with its HomePod device, and other competitors such as Samsung and Facebook are also looming. At this point, there is no telling which device will emerge as the ultimate winner, or even whether smart speakers will become even more of a staple in homes across the country than they already are.
However, given the resources that Amazon, Google, and Apple have committed to the effort, it's likely that they will become a part of everyday life in the future.
Required
A. What strategies did Amazon use to enter and dominate the voice-controlled technology market with the Amazon Echo?
B. How does the Amazon Echo Plus differ from the original Echo and what market does it target?
C. What are the potential implications of the data collection and storage capabilities of the Amazon Echo for user privacy?
D. How does Google's smart speaker, Google Home, compare to the Amazon Echo in terms of functionality and market share?
E. What role do you think smart speakers will play in the future of home technology and how do you think the market will evolve in the coming years?
F. What is the market segmentation of voice-controlled devices?
G. How does Amazon differentiate its product from its competitors in terms of customer value?
H. What kind of marketing management strategy does Amazon follow for the Amazon Echo and Echo Plus?
I. How does Amazon use the data and learns from users' questions and commands?
J. What are the different versions of Google Home and how do they differ in terms of functionality?