MARKET - Amazon Google Battle for the Home is Evident at CES Today

Consumers Win New Products and More Convenience as the Battle for the Home Plays Out

Google's CES 2018 Gumball Machine

MicroSoft and Apple are missing in action while Amazon and Google appear everywhere as well as in their own branded spaces.

According to this mornings report from Wired, Google has made a huge splash at CES 2018:

"Along with the new categories, Google touted its rapidly growing adoption: Assistant can now control more than 1,500 devices, and you can interact with it through new Android TVs, new smart speakers, and more. These aren't new features, really, just new and different ways to use Assistant. That's what Google really needs right now"

"Right now, by all accounts, Amazon's Alexa is winning the virtual assistant battle. It was in hundreds of third-party devices at last year's CES, and though Amazon doesn't release specific sales figures beyond the "tens of millions" statement from CEO Jeff Bezos, Echo devices appear to outsell Google Homes by a wide margin. Not only that, Amazon's working with a growing list of partners to embed Alexa in other devices as well." 

The WIRED Story

GeekWire also report's today that it's Game On in the battle for the Home:

Google Papers Las Vegas Monorail

"That market is growing quickly, with analysts at the Canalys research firm projecting more than 56 million smart speaker shipments in 2018, the majority in the United States.

But much more than their own first-party smart speakers, industry partnerships with device makers will be key for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to reach critical mass, which is why CES is such an important battleground for them both. Google said last week that Google Assistant works with more than 1,500 smart home devices from more than 225 brands. 

By the end of this week’s show we should have a better sense for whether Amazon will extend its lead or if Google Assistant will make serious inroads against Alexa in the coming year."

The GeekWire Story