A New Challenger Appears!

The WWDC Keynote has come and gone, there were a bunch of great announcements, but none more exciting than the announcement of HomePod. While the name leaves a lot to be desired Apple is coming into the smart speaker space with guns blazing.

Privacy is a huge concern right now, the two big players in the smart speaker game both earn a living by selling things. Apple is in a unique position as they earn their revenue based on actual device sales rather than advertisement or the sale of goods. Apple has worked to implement their smart speaker technology using personal data that is only accessible to the end-user’s devices. Privacy will be a huge differentiator that will swing the public’s perception in Apple’s favor.

Apple has given people who are on the fence about a smart speaker another reason to buy by making a speaker that actually produces good audio. For many a smart speaker is still somewhat of a gimmick, but music is essential.

The smart speaker space is primed to explode in the same way that the smart phone space exploded a few years ago. It will be exciting to watch the three big players battle one another.