Internet giants developing new smart speakers with bigger displays

Taiwan’s supply chain makers for IT devices have indicated that heavyweight Internet service operators including Amazon, Google and Facebook all are accelerating the development of new smart speakers that mostly will come with a display targeting not only general consumers but also for remote work applications.

Sources from the supply chain also noted that mold makers have already developed related molds for some new smart speakers with volume production likely to kick off in the first half of 2021.

To satisfy the needs for remote work, the sizes of the displays attached to the speakers will be enlarged to 15-20 inches instead of the most previous models sized in 5.5-10 inches, the sources added.

Citing data from Omdia, sales of smart speakers in North America grew 6% on year in the first quarter 2020, with Amazon’s Alexa lineup accounting for a 56% share, followed by Google Home with 35% and Apple’s HomePod devices with 9%, the sources noted.

The same data also showed that shipments of Amazon’s Echo Show 5, which comes with a display, reached 780,000 units in North America in the first quarter, accounting for 25% of the vendor’s total smart speaker shipments for the period.

Shipments of Facebook’s large-size smart speaker, the Portal Plus, which is equipped with a 15.5-inch display, also got a boost in North America in the first quarter, reaching 200,000 units, said the sources, citing data from Strategy Analytics. Sales of the Portal Plus in North America totaled one million units in 2019.