Who is the best smart speaker in the world?
On September 25th, Alibaba launched the Tmall Elf IN Sugar Smart Speaker at the Yunqi Conference. According to foreign media reports, Xiaomi is developing a smart watch that runs the Google Wear OS operating system. Not only domestically, but internationally, Facebook recently announced the launch of smart hardware TV boxes, and Amazon said it will launch 15 new products at the fall conference. For a time, the intelligent hardware market is very hot. With the development of technology, the Internet of Things era is coming, and the giants have launched smart hardware products for the future.
At the same time, we noticed that with the entry of major players, the smart hardware industry was fiercely competitive, and many small and micro enterprises were forced to withdraw. Moreover, the privacy and security issues of current smart hardware devices are not completely solved, and there are still large risks. If the major giants cannot solve them in time, it may slow down the development speed of intelligent hardware.
However, despite many problems, the smart hardware industry is still growing rapidly. Among them, smart wearable devices and smart homes have become the industry’s darlings, and may become the largest consumer market in the smart hardware industry in the future. At the same time, the two are closely related to the future Internet of Things, and may become the key projects for Internet giants to compete. In addition, the smart hardware industry is gradually merging with other industries, and the future revenue imagination space will increase. The US Stock Research Institute will continue to pay attention to the follow-up development of the event.
The major manufacturers have focused on the smart hardware market, and the giants have laid out the Internet of Things era in advance
The current internationally renowned Internet vendors have already invested in the smart hardware industry. Currently, the most popular products are smart speakers, and almost all companies are involved. In addition to speakers, smart glasses and other products are gradually becoming popular. In the face of this huge market, the giants have come out, but they may also be pre-arranged for the arrival of the future Internet of Things. After all, the market is changing. If it is unable to grasp the market trend, it will be easily eliminated by the market.
(1) The giants are making efforts in the smart hardware industry, and the types of equipment are gradually increasing.
The current giants are all in the smart hardware market. Smart hardware refers to smart wearable devices, smart homes, and more. Representative domestic Baidu, Ali, Xiaomi. International Facebook, Google, Amazon. There are many kinds of intelligent hardware market. If smart audio is used as the representative analysis, according to the 2019 Q2 smart speaker shipment report released by American research company Strategy Analytics, the domestic smart speakerIn the market, small shipments of 4.7 million units continued to rank first in the country and third in the world. Alibaba shipped 4.3 million units and 3.4 million units of millet. In the world, Amazon is the world’s number one. Google ranks second in the world.
In addition to smart audio, the giants are also working on other smart hardware products. Amazon is likely to launch 15 new products, including wireless headsets and smart glasses, and its position in the smart hardware market will become more stable. Not long ago, there was news that Google might pick up the smart wearable company fitbit, indicating that Google may re-enter the smart hardware market. The more backward Facebook has also confirmed that it is developing AR glasses. Apple’s smart watches, unlimited headphones are also strong. It can be seen that Internet giants are busy developing smart hardware products, both domestically and internationally.
(2) The scale of the intelligent hardware market is expanding, and the giants are planning the Internet of Things in advance
There are two main reasons why the giants are targeting this market. On the one hand, the smart hardware market is huge, and the data compiled by the Prospective Industry Research Institute shows that the global smart hardware market will be 213.8 billion US dollars in 2018, and will grow to 362.8 billion US dollars by 2023. On the other hand, we have noticed that Internet companies have great advantages in software, such as Amazon, Alibaba’s e-commerce, Baidu’s search, etc. If they can combine hardware devices with their own business, they can not only consolidate their position. And maybe increase market share. For example, Baidu uses speakers to consolidate its position in the search industry.
But the most important reason may be the layout of the Internet of Things. As the 5G technology matures, the Internet of Things era is getting closer. If it is unable to grasp the future development trend, its own business may be affected. And IDC data shows that global IoT spending is expected to be $726 billion this year, and will exceed $1 trillion in 2020. Advance layout may quickly capture this market when the Internet of Things era arrives.
Intelligent hardware industry is fiercely competitive, and privacy security issues need to be resolved
The entry of giants is conducive to the development of this market, but it also exacerbates the competitive situation. At present, this track has gathered too much capital, and it has been hot in the past few years. This has made this industry a red sea, and excessive competition is not conducive to the development of this industry. In addition, there are privacy and security issues in this industry. If stealing privacy, security threats and other issues often occur, the smart hardware industry may be affected.
(1) The intelligent hardware industry has become a red sea, three major categoriesPlayers gradually layered
The current smart hardware industry is already the Red Sea. In China, in addition to Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi, other companies are also entering the smart hardware industry. For example, Sogou launched the recording pen not long ago, and Huawei also took advantage of its advantages in 5G, and launched its smart hardware market through routers. Competition in foreign countries is also very intense. Not long ago, rumors that fitbit is about to sell Google, fitbit as one of the once wearable device giants, and finally fell to the point of selling.
According to the report of Yiou.com, players in the intelligent hardware industry can be divided into three categories. One is an organization represented by Ali Intelligent, Baidu, Jingdong Intelligent, etc., combined with its own resource advantages, to provide an ecological service platform for the industry. The other category is based on Tencent’s open platform, Xiaomi Group and other organizations based on their own supply chain background, to provide users with one-stop service or some kind of packaged solution services. Finally, there are other start-up organizations based on the background of the founders.
In terms of competitiveness, the first category is more competitive, and its business is more closely linked, but it faces its own industry limitations. The second category is more competitive, especially Xiaomi has formed a complete ecological chain. The third category is the weakest. In terms of market performance, it is difficult to succeed under the squeeze of the giants. The hardware players who have been hot in the past few years have gradually withdrawn. At present, apart from the Internet giant, it is very difficult for other companies to succeed. After all, the technical barriers are high and it is difficult to imitate easily.
(2) Privacy theft is difficult to solve, and security issues are cause for concern
In addition to the competition issues, privacy issues are also worth noting. The current privacy issues of smart hardware come mainly from two parties. One is a so-called hacker. Ed Lee, executive editor of the technology website Recode, said in an interview with CNBC that the networking tool sounds cool, but it also means that it is a hacker to get consumers. Another way to privacy. One party is a producer. In recent years, Amazon smart speakers have been exposed to collect user voice information, and the issue of Facebook privacy leaks has not stopped. This shows that the current combination of Internet + smart hardware is not perfect for privacy management.
Security issues are also cause for concern. Tencent Security Yunding Lab released the “2018 IoT Security Threat Analysis Report”, which showed that the router was attacked at the highest frequency, accounting for 45.47%. There are two main types of attacks against video cameras: weak passwords and exploits. Not long ago, Xiaomi’s brand smart door locks were automatically opened in the middle of the night. It can be seen that security is also a big problem.
Wearable and smart home industry darlings, hardware equipment gradually integrated with other industries
Despite the many problems, we can see from the previous data that the smart hardware industry is still developing rapidly. Among them, wearable devices and smart homes have become the first choice for many manufacturers to develop. After all, they are closer to people’s daily life and have greater potential for future development. Moreover, we find that smart hardware is no longer a separate industry, but is integrated with other industries, which may bring greater development potential.
(1) Wearable devices or the Internet of Things era entrance, smart home into the largest consumer market
There are several major trends in smart hardware devices. One is that wearables and smart homes have become the darling of the hardware industry, growing faster than other hardware. Currently, wearable devices are the largest smart devices besides mobile phones. According to IDC statistics, global wearable device shipments increased by 27.5% year-on-year to 172.2 million units in 2018. Because of its portability and low cost, wearable devices are likely to become the entrance to the Internet of Things era, and have greater potential for payment and health management.
Smart homes are likely to become the largest consumer market. IDC data shows that the global smart home market shipments reached 656 million units, and shipments are expected to increase by 833 million units this year. By 2023, shipments will increase to 1.6 billion units. Among them, smart speakers are welcomed by both manufacturers and consumers. Strategy Analytics data shows that shipments in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 167.9% year-on-year to 25.9 million units. If the wearable device is the entrance to the Internet of Things, the smart speaker may become the entrance to the entire smart home, and through the voice assistant and the ecological platform, it will become the “remote control” of the entire smart product.
(2) Intelligent hardware acceleration and integration with other industries, intelligent voice operating system rapid development
Another major development is that smart hardware is no longer a separate industry, but is integrated with other industries. Smart hardware actively enters all walks of life, such as the educated industry. NetEase has already launched the second generation of the dictionary, which combines intelligent hardware with the education industry. And Baidu speakers cooperate with Tencent Music to promote the combination of intelligent hardware and music market. The cooperation between intelligent hardware and other industries is deepening.
Finally, the smart voice operating system is gaining popularity. With the advent of the 5G era, the speech recognition system has gradually improved. Recently, at the Google Developers Conference, Google officially released a new Android Q operating system, which will support speech recognition technology. In terms of car voice, the giants have also shot. According to incomplete statistics, more than 90% of the new cars released during the Shanghai Auto Show this year are equipped with intelligent voice interaction systems. In addition, in addition to speakers, other products are gradually configured with voice operating systems, such as smart windows.Curtains, etc. It can be seen that the future intelligent voice operating system will penetrate into all aspects of intelligent hardware products.
Overall, the smart hardware market is expanding, and with the arrival of the Internet of Things, the market potential is greater in the future. As a result, the major players have made their efforts in this industry and tried to occupy the market ahead of time. This has led to excessive competition in the industry, and many small and micro enterprises have been forced to withdraw. And privacy and security issues are urgently needed to address, and these have become one of the pain points of the industry. The US Stock Research Institute will continue to pay attention to the follow-up development of the event.
The author: Wall Street Research Society (Public number: meigushe) http://www.meigushe.com/– to help Chinese investors to understand the world, focused on technology stocks and reported that the US takes shares, interest on Wall Street Friends pay close attention to us.