Analysis of the Development Status and Future Trends of Intelligent Speakers
Time:2023-08-19
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OFweek Smart Home Network News: In 2014, smart speakers began to enter the domestic market, but at that time they were not yet called smart speakers, but rather WiFi speakers. In terms of connection method, it is much more complex than a Bluetooth speaker, requiring the use of a smartphone to complete the LAN connection with the router, and then push the music on the phone to the speaker for playback through AirPlay or DLNA.
The initial WiFi speaker experience was not too bad to describe at all. It may take about ten to twenty minutes to connect it to the internet, and if you make a mistake in the middle step, you have to start over. Based on this alone, many people at that time were not optimistic about this product. But later, one thing changed people‘s understanding of WiFi speakers, which was the integration of online music and audiobook resources. When we found that we could directly play content from QQ Music, Xiami Music, and Himalayan FM on the speaker, this feeling was wonderful, and it also showed us the fundamental difference between it and Bluetooth speakers.
In the following two years, WiFi speakers began to develop rapidly, and the connection experience has significantly improved. Now, many products have simplified the connection to one minute. Content resources are also becoming increasingly abundant, covering various aspects such as music, education, entertainment, news, etc. But the most surprising thing is its intelligent expansion. It can be said that with the help of powerful speech recognition technology, WiFi speakers have truly become intelligent speakers; From broadcasting weather and news to helping you order takeout and hotels, tasks that could only be done through computers and mobile phones can now be easily handled with a smart speaker.
The current situation and problems of the intelligent speaker industry
However, in the face of the rich variety of smart speaker products and the maturity of technology, people‘s attention to it is not very high, and even there are still many people who do not know what smart speakers are and what they can do. This industry situation makes smart speaker manufacturers a bit awkward. Among them, the promotion efforts of manufacturers are one reason, but the author believes that the following aspects may be the main problems in the current smart speaker industry.
People‘s recognition of smart speakers is not enough
1、 User usage habits:
It should be noted that speakers are not like smartphones and computers. The stronger the performance and the more functions, the better. The reason people buy them is very simple: they want to use them at home while listening to music or watching movies, so the sound quality is the top priority. Although smart speakers have many functions and rich content resources, they seem to have not hit the pain points of users. People are still concerned about "how is the sound quality. In fact, user usage habits need to be cultivated, but this process takes time, and most people are still in an inherent demand mode.
2、 Limitations of user scope:
For traditional desktop active speakers and Bluetooth speakers, there is almost no limit to the user range they face. Due to the simple connection and operation, everyone can get started using them. But for current smart speakers, it is still difficult for both children and the elderly to get started, as it requires users to be proficient in using smartphones at the same time, otherwise you will not be able to connect it to the internet, which results in its user base mainly focusing on young people.
3、 Sound quality issues:
At present, the vast majority of smart speakers on the market adopt integrated design, mainly to ensure the convenience of their placement and use. But the problem is that in such a very limited box, it is actually difficult to achieve good sound quality. The author has experienced over a dozen smart speaker products before and after, but those that cost two to three hundred yuan are really hard to listen to; Smart speaker products such as BOSE, SONOS, and B&O do have excellent sound quality, but their prices have skyrocketed to over 3000 yuan, which ordinary consumers cannot afford.
4、 The manufacturer‘s emphasis on the product:
I remember at last year‘s smart new product launch event for a certain audio brand in China, their product manager privately revealed to us that the main purpose of their new smart speaker product was to "test the water", so they did not have high expectations for the product. At the same time, they also wanted to see the user‘s attitude and feedback on this new product. In fact, there may still be many domestic audio hardware manufacturers like this, and everyone is uncertain whether this new intelligent product can be accepted by users. They can only take a try attitude first.
Three major directions for the future of smart speakers
Faced with the above issues and the slightly awkward situation of smart speakers, the author believes that domestic audio hardware manufacturers will inevitably make adjustments in the future development direction and strategic trends of smart speakers:
Lowering operational barriers, improving sound quality performance, and enriching content resources
Direction 1: Further improve the user experience and lower the operating threshold.
At present, the complex setup in the early stage is still a criticism of some smart speakers, and it is also the fundamental reason that affects the user experience. In this regard, domestic brands such as Amber, Dingdong, and DOS have already done a good job in operating the experience, which is worth learning from by other manufacturers.
Direction 2: Improve the sound quality performance of the product.
Sound quality, as an important criterion for considering the cost-effectiveness of a speaker, should always be the top priority and also the most important concern for users. In the future, the sound quality of smart speakers will still be a key factor determining their ability to lead industry change. In this regard, domestic manufacturers should learn more from SONOS, BOSE, and Pacers, and further improve product functionality and experience while ensuring sound quality, rather than just seeking short-term benefits.
Direction 3: Further enrich content resources and increase user stickiness.
A very important feature of smart speakers is that they have rich content resources, and users can play any content they want on the speakers. But it requires deep cooperation between audio hardware manufacturers and major music and audiobook platforms. In this regard, SONOS has already achieved the ultimate in content resources, with rich content resources such as Manwalker, Dingdong, Electric Python Cloud Audio, O2 Cloud Audio, etc.
Three major trends in the future of smart speakers
Returning to essence, high sound quality will become a characteristic of smart speakers
Trend 1: Don‘t forget your original intention and return to sound quality.
Since 2014, the most criticized aspect of smart speakers by users can be said to be poor sound quality, which I also deeply understand. However, as a speaker product, only by first improving the sound quality can we talk about the level of intelligence and content resources. Therefore, in the future, audio manufacturers will also have a clearer understanding that smart speaker products need to return to sound quality in order to have more long-term development.
Trend 2: Intelligent experience will become a characteristic of smart speakers.
The purpose of the birth of smart speakers is to provide users with a more convenient experience, allowing them to put down their phones and enjoy music and life better when they return home. In June of this year, JD Smart transplanted services that could only be completed through mobile app operations to smart speakers (Dingdong speakers) through cooperation with numerous platforms such as iFlytek, Didi Chuxing, Baidu Maps, Zhongtong Express, and E-Bag Washing. Therefore, connecting traditional speakers to rich internet services and turning them into distribution platforms for today‘s internet services will be the future development trend of smart speakers.
Trend 3: Further layout in the field of smart home.
Currently, both Alibaba and JD are comprehensively laying out the smart home ecosystem and leveraging the voice interaction function of smart speakers to open up the entrance to smart homes. In the near future, users can quickly complete services such as car appointment, takeout ordering, express delivery ordering, housekeeping services, and real-time reporting of road conditions through voice commands on their smart speakers at home. The important thing is that you don‘t need to use your phone to operate all of this. Just use your mouth to tell the smart speaker, and it can help you complete it.
Write at the end:
In 2016, the competition among smart speaker manufacturers significantly intensified, which is not only reflected in the competition for content resources, copyright, and more importantly, how to further layout the smart home field. At present, Alibaba and JD, two major smart home ecosystems, have respectively reached deep strategic cooperation with some smart speaker manufacturers. With smart speakers as the entry point, it has become a reality to help users complete daily life services through voice interaction. Of course, to achieve the above goals, for smart speaker manufacturers, the key to determining whether users can use smart speakers for the long term is to not forget their original intention and focus on high sound quality.
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